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LIVING 
THE  RADIANT  LIFE 

A  PERSONAL  NARRATIVE 


BY 
GEORGE  WHARTON  JAMES 

Author  of  "Quit  from   Worrying,"  "What  the  White 
Race  May  Learn  From  the  Indian,"  "The  Story 
of  Scroggles,"  "The  Heroes  of  California," 
"The  Grand  Canyon  of  Arizona,"  "Lake 
Tahoe,"  "The  Wonders  of  the  Colo- 
rado Desert,"  etc.,  etc. 


PASADENA,  CALIF. 
THE  RADIANT  LIFE  PRESS 

1916 


Copyright,  1916 
BY  EDITH  E.  FARNSWORTH 


J.  F.  TAPLEY  CO. 
NEW  YORK 


TO  ONE 

who,  in  all  the  years  I  have  known  her,  never  once 
has   failed   to   radiate   that   which   is   sweet, 
pure,    helpful,     unselfish,     humane,     sin- 
cere, beautiful  and  true,  with  thank- 
fulness   for    the    blessedness    of 
my     association     with     her 


331949 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

FOREWORD ix 

CHAPTER 

I  RADIANCIES  OF  NATURE 1 

II  THE  RADIANT  AURA 6 

III  A  FEW  WORDS  IN  PASSING     .      .      .      .  14 

IV  VARIED   RADIANCIES 22 

V  RADIANCIES  OF  INDIVIDUALITY     ...  38 

VI     CONFLICTING  RADIANCIES      ....      50 

VII     RADIANCIES   OF   FEAR 56 

VIII     THE  RADIANCY  OF  REBUKE  ....      78 
IX     WHAT  I  WOULD  RADIATE  TO  THE  WRONG 

DOER 81 

X     THE  RADIANCIES  OF  TOLERATION     .      .      89 
XI     OUT  OF  DOOR  RADIANCIES     ....     96 
XII     RADIANCIES  OF  JOY,  INSPIRATION,  AND 

SERENITY 115 

XIII  RADIANCIES  OF  THE  WILL     .      .      .      .126 

XIV  RADIANCIES  OF  CHEERFULNESS    .      .      .147 
XV     RADIANCIES  OF  MORAL  COURAGE     .      .166 

XVI  RADIANCIES  OF  CONTENT  AND  DISCON- 
TENT        186 

XVII  RADIANCIES  OF  SINCERITY     .      .      .      .217 

XVIII  RADIANCIES  OF  SERVICE 221 

XIX  RADIANCIES  OF  HUMOR 232 

XX  RADIANCIES  OF  THE  "  ETERNAL  Now  "  .   241 

XXI  RADIANCIES  OF  EXTREMES     ....   247 

XXII  ABSORPTION  IN  RELATION  TO  RADIATION  255 

XXIII  RADIANCIES  OF  DEATH 286 


FOREWORD 

From  the  standpoint  of  religion  the  lives  of 
"  good  "  men  and  women  may  be  divided  into  two 
great  classes,  viz.,  those  who  do  no  active  wrong, 
whose  conduct  is  based  upon  the  "  thou  shalt 
nots  "  of  the  Bible,  the  law,  and  society,  and  those 
whose  every  thought  is  to  do  some  active  good. 

I  am  far  more  interested  in  the  latter  than  the 
former  class.  I  am  not  content  simply  to  forego 
doing  wrong.  I  want  to  do,  to  be.  Hence  when 
the  idea  of  Living  a  Radiant  Life  took  hold  of 
me,  it  sank  deep,  and  is  now  part  of  my  inner 
self.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  I  should 
seek  to  formulate  my  thoughts  as  to  what  I  de- 
sired to  radiate.  This  seeking  soon  taught  me 
that  I  already  was  a  radiant  being;  every  thought, 
every  act,  every  word  written  or  spoken  was  a 
radiant  act,  having  its  influence  for  good  or  evil 
upon  my  fellows,  and  that,  therefore,  I  must  de- 
cide speedily  what  I  wanted  to  avoid  radiating, 
and  that  which  I  would  radiate. 

The  following  pages  are  some  of  the  results  of 
my  earnest  cogitations,  deliberations,  reflections, 
and  decisions.  Consequently  they  partake  strongly 
of  personal  preachments  applied  to  myself.  They 
may  be  regarded  as  a  record  of  personal  aspirations 
and  longings,  of  spiritual  hopes,  of  living  prayers, 

ix 


FOREWORD 

and  desires.  And  they  are  purposely  written 
in  the  personal  form  in  the  sincere  hope  that 
they  will  help  others  to  put  into  similar  form  their 
own  half -formed  thoughts,  desires,  and  aspirations. 

This  book  is  not  offered  as  a  complete  manual  of 
life.  It  is  merely  a  suggestion  to  others  of  the 
larger,  wider,  better,  nobler  thing  they  may  do  for 
themselves.  It  is  my  desire  to  arouse  thought,  to 
stimulate  ardent  longings  for  something  beyond 
the  gratification  of  the  senses,  to  lead  my  readers  to 
strive  more  earnestly  for  unselfish  living,  and  to  en- 
courage them  in  their  endeavors  to  find,  realize,  and 
live  those  spiritual  truths  which  redeem  human  be- 
ings from  their  mortal  inheritance  of  imperfection. 

The  main  test  of  any  system  of  religion  or  code 
of  life  is:  Does  it  work?  If  it  is  not  practical; 
applicable  to  ah1  the  events  of  daily  life;  enabling 
one  to  cope  with  problems  as  they  arise ;  making 
one  more  helpful  to  mankind,  less  selfish,  less  cen- 
sorious, less  vain,  less  proud,  less  obstinate,  less 
cruel,  less  thoughtless,  less  despondent ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  exciting  and  stimulating  one  to 
be  more  humane,  more  tender  and  compassionate 
with  sinning  humanity,  more  humble  and  ready 
to  learn,  more  amenable  to  the  suggestions  of  the 
wise  and  good,  more  kind,  more  considerate,  more 
generous,  more  noble,  more  aspiring,  then,  indeed, 
has  it  proven  itself  to  be  a  broken  reed,  instead  of 
a  tried  staff  upon  which  one  may  lean. 

x 


FOREWORD 

No  longer  to  me  is  religion  a  question  of  "  Thou 
shalt  not."  The  "  don'ts  "  of  life  are  of  far  less 
importance  than  the  "  dos."  He  whose  life  is 
occupied  with  doing  good  has  little  time  or  thought 
for  doing  harm.  Christ's  method  of  living  was 
positive  and  active,  rather  than  negative  and  pas- 
sive. He  went  about,  doing  good.  He  said: 
"  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  have  them  do  unto 
you."  He  taught  love  in  action:  Love  your 
enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to 
them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  de- 
spitefully  use  you,  and  persecute  you. 

Hence  I  earnestly  hope  that  every  one  of  the 
following  pages  will  contain  some  helpful  thought 
for  all  who  are  seeking  the  more  perfect  life ;  and 
also  for  those  who  are  sitting  in  the  darkness  of 
discouragement,  under  the  depressing  temptation 
to  regard  life  as  a  "  failure."  There  is  no  man 
living,  no  matter  how  low  in  body,  mind,  or  soul, 
but  can  be  helped  into  happiness ;  no  woman  so 
utterly  lost  to  all  good  who  may  not  live  to  feel 
the  sprouting  of  angel  wings  because  of  the  birth 
within  her  soul  of  helpful,  unselfish  love. 

Goethe's  cry  was  for  "  more  light,"  and  as  life 
comes  with  light  in  the  material  world,  so  light 
and  life  are  inseparably  connected  in  the  mental 
and  spiritual  world.  There  is  no  real  darkness  in 
life.  There  may  be  a  temporary  withdrawal  of 
solar  light,  but  we  know  that  as  surely  as  all  the 

xi 


FOREWORD 

days  of  the  past  have  dawned,  so  the  sun  will  shine 
again  to-morrow.  And  through  all  the  seeming 
mists  of  doubt,  fear,  and  pain  the  true  spiritual 
light  forever  shines  to  give  immortal  life.  Let  us 
take  Life  then  as  God's  gift,  and  as  we  progress 
daily  to  a  more  perfect  expression  of  freedom  from 
all  that  would  wrongfully  enthrall  us,  let  us  seek 
diligently  to  "  let  our  light  shine "  upon  those 
around  who  seem  to  live  in  the  shadows. 

I  would  come,  in  these  pages,  as  the  glorious 
sun,  bringing  warmth,  healing,  and  purification. 
I  would  come  as  the  stimulating  breeze  that  vivifies 
and  refreshes  —  the  breeze  that  has  its  birth  on 
the  vast  Pacific  where  all  impurities  are  scrubbed 
out  of  it  in  a  thousand  miles  of  storms,  then  floats 
gently  over  the  orange  and  lemon  groves,  the  rose 
gardens  and  violet  beds,  the  sweet  scented  blos- 
soms of  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  shrubs 
of  California;  then,  laden  with  sweet  odors  and 
charged  with  the  bromine  and  ozone  of  the  ocean, 
climbs  over  the  steep  Sierran  heights  and  becomes 
cool  and  filtered  through  the  vast  pine  and  juni- 
per forests,  and  adds  the  balsams  of  health  and 
strength,  distilled  from  a  million  trees  and  shrubs, 
ere  it  falls  to  the  desert  and  is  there  rendered 
aseptic  and  antiseptic.  Like  such  a  health-laden 
breeze  would  I  come  to  weary  men  and  women, 
tired  and  exhausted  with  the  battle  of  life,  sick 
of  its  complexities  and  frivolities,  longing  for 
xii 


FOREWORD 

spiritual  as  well  as  physical  health,  and  seeking 
the  happiness  that  comes  alone  when  we  live  for 
the  happiness  of  others. 

My  desire  is  to  send  forth  a  message  that  will 
bless  body,  mind,  and  soul,  just  as  a  triple  song, 
whose  melodies  blend  in  perfect  harmony,  carries 
healing,  strength,  and  inspiration.  For  he  indeed 
is  thrice  blessed  who  knows  the  joy  of  life  in  its 
threefold  manifestation,  who  has  a  body  that  is 
vigorous  and  healthy,  a  mind  alert  and  active, 
quick  to  observe  and  reflect,  to  discern  and  clas- 
sify, and  a  soul  whose  emotions  and  aspirations 
are  ever  to  help,  encourage,  comfort,  and  purify 
humanity. 

The  conditions  for  such  a  life  are  in  the 
"  Everywhere "  waiting  to  be  born  into  the 
"  Here,"  and  God's  time  is  now. 

Many  of  these  chapters  originally  appeared  in 
the  pages  of  Physical  Culture  Magazme,  and  to 
my  good  friends,  its  editor  and  founder,  Bernarr 
Macfadden,  and  the  present  editor,  John  Brennan, 
I  tender  my  cordial  thanks  for  the  privilege  of  re- 
printing which  they  have  generously  accorded. 


Pasadena,  Calif. 

xiii 


PRAYER 

OH,  ALMIGHTY  GOD,  Thou  radiant 
source  of  all  power,  life  and  love, 
Thou  free  giver  of  sun  and  earth,  clouds 
and  wind,  flowers  and  trees,  fruits  and 
birds,  bees  and  butterflies,  work  and  play, 
tenderness  and  unselfishness,  sympathy 
and  love,  so  fill  us  with  Thyself  that  we 
shall  become  radiant  beings  like  Thyself. 
Make  us  innocent  as  little  children,  simple 
as  the  young  animals  of  the  hills  and 
fields,  beautiful  in  soul  as  are  the  flowers, 
heaven-aspiring  as  are  the  trees,  soothing 
as  are  the  gentle  breezes  of  night,  warm- 
ing as  is  the  sun,  fluid  to  meet  all  needs  as 
water,  restful  as  night,  eager  for  work  as 
the  dawn,  joyous  in  all  life  as  the  birds, 
and  thankful  for  labor  as  the  busy  bees. 
Give  us  the  needy  to  bless,  the  loveless  to 
love,  the  sinful  to  stimulate  and  encour- 
age to  goodness,  purity,  and  truth,  the  or- 
phan to  father,  the  degraded  to  uplift,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  wise  to  be  our  teach- 
ers and  the  serene  to  lead  us  into  peace. 
Be  Thou  our  Constant  Vision,  longing  and 
aspiration — .  nay,  be  Thou  our  never-fail- 
ing companion,  counselor  and  friend.  So 
shall  we  become  radiant,  true  children  of 
Thine,  possessed  of  Thy  likeness  and  ra- 
diating the  glory  and  beauty  of  Thyself. 

—  Amen. 


LIVING  THE  RADIANT  LIFE 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    RADIANCIES    OF    NATURE 

EVERYTHING  in  Nature  is  radiant.  Use  the 
term  in  its  broad  sense  and  there  is  nothing  to 
which  it  does  not  apply.  The  sun  radiates  light 
and  heat,  and  without  it  life  would  be  impossible. 
The  moon  radiates  light,  but  practically  no  heat. 
Its  light  is  reflected  and  of  an  entirely  different 
character  from  that  of  the  sun,  so  that  no  one 
ever  mistakes  the  one  for  the  other.  The  stars 
have  a  light  all  their  own  which  they,  though  so 
many  millions  of  miles  away  from  us,  radiate  in 
varying  intensities.  And  many  of  these  stars  are 
so  individualistic  in  their  radiancies  that  each 
one,  though  perfect,  is  different  from  each  other 
one,  and  may  readily  be  detected  by  its  own  pe- 
culiarities. Every  flower  that  grows,  from  the 
night-blooming  cereus  on  the  desert  to  the  most 
perfect  amaryllis  developed  by  Burbank,  radiates 
its  own  colors,  odors,  and  general  appearance. 
One  familiar  with  them  may  close  his  eyes  and 

1 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

detect  in  a  moment,  by  the  odor  of  each  —  the 
violet,  rose,  lily,  cosmos,  verbena,  and  a  thousand 
others,  and  there  are  those  whose  olfactory  nerves 
are  highly  sensitive  who  can  discern,  by  smell 
alone,  the  varieties  of  each  flower. 

Every  species  of  tree  radiates  its  own  qualities, 
so  that,  to  the  student,  they  become  growingly 
wonderful  in  what  they  give  out.  A  distinguished 
botanist  whom  I  know  is  so  familiar  with  the  radi- 
ancies of  the  various  pines  of  the  Pacific  Slope 
that  he  can  sketch  and  perfectly  describe  the  com- 
plete tree  as  soon  as  he  sees  the  cone,  or,  blind- 
folded, smells  its  odor. 

Every  rock  has  its  own  radiancies  of  color,  tex- 
ture, weight,  and  density.  One  of  John  Ruskin's 
most  useful  and  beautiful  books  is  his  Ethics  of 
the  Dust,  and  those  who  have  not  read  it  should 
do  so  to  understand  how  many  things  a  wise  and 
good  man  has  felt  radiated  from  the  rocks. 

Shakspere  felt  the  potency  of  this  truth  or  he 
would  never  have  written  that  he  saw  "  tongues 
in  trees ;  books  in  the  running  brooks ;  sermons  in 
stones,  and  good  in  everything." 

Every  landscape  radiates  its  own  personality. 
Some  are  quietly  pastoral,  as  the  valleys  in  Con- 
necticut. The  prairies  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Ne- 
braska are  wide  and  impressive;  the  wastes  of  the 
Colorado  Desert  are  vast  and  appalling ;  the 
varied  colorings  of  the  Painted  Desert  are  weird 


RADIANCIES     OF     NATURE 

and  startling.  The  orange,  lemon,  and  other 
orchards  of  Southern  California  delight  the  senses, 
the  forests  of  the  north  and  the  High  Sierras  stir 
the  soul  by  their  expansiveness,  and  the  groves  of 
Big  Trees  overpower  by  their  height  and  size. 
The  ocean  is  restless  and  resistless ;  the  stars  piti- 
less at  times,  soothing  at  others.  Each  scene, 
whether  pastoral,  picturesque,  wild,  rugged,  grand, 
or  weird,  has  its  peculiar  radiancies,  and  some 
scenes  possess  many  qualities,  all  of  which  are  felt 
or  perceived  by  the  sensitive  onlooker.  For  in- 
stance, as  one  stands  on  the  rim  of  the  Grand 
Canyon  he  feels  the  radiancies  of  overwhelming 
vastness,  profound  depth,  far-reaching  length,  ex- 
pansive width,  vivid  and  extraordinary  coloring, 
bizarre  and  strange  carvings,  and,  in  the  lower 
depths  of  the  Inner  Gorge,  where  flows  the  solemn 
and  sullen  Colorado,  a  strangeness  and  mystery 
found  nowhere  else  in  the  known  world. 

In  his  Kreutzer  Sonata,  Tolstoi  contends  that 
certain  music  radiates  damning  influences,  and 
though  I  do  not  agree  with  him  (perhaps  because 
I  have  never  felt  or  seen  such  evil),  his  attitude  of 
mind  serves  as  a  further  illustration  of  my  propo- 
sition. We  all  are  aware  of  certain  radiancies  of 
certain  kinds  of  music,  even  though  unaccompa- 
nied with  words.  The  Dead  March  m  Saul;  the 
Threnody  in  Bach's  Passion  Music;  the  Death  of 
the  King  in  Grieg's  Peer  Gynt,  and  Chopin's  Fu- 

3 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

neral  March,  all  radiate  the  solemnity  and  sadness 
of  death,  while  Sousa's  various  marches,  Chopin's 
March  Mttitaire,  and  a  hundred  other  similar 
compositions  radiate  the  arousement  either  of  ac- 
tive life  or  passionate  war.  The  Glorias  of  Mozart 
and  Pergolesi,  and  Handel's  Hallelujah  Chorus 
speak  —  even  though  the  words  are  unheard  —  of 
the  joy  of  the  world  at  the  Savior's  birth,  and  the 
Requiems  of  Verdi,  Bach,  and  Gounod  of  the  sad- 
ness of  soul  felt  at  His  cruel  death. 

Every  picture  radiates  the  spirit  of  its  artist 
at  the  period  of  creation,  and  every  piece  of 
music  the  influences  that  overpower  the  soul  of  the 
composer;  and  even  every  piece  of  furniture  radi- 
ates to  some  extent  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  it 
was  created,  or  the  animating  spirit  of  its  creator. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  although  these 
radiant  properties  are  possessed  for  all  persons 
alike,  they  are  not  discerned  by  all  alike.  All 
people  are  not  equally  receptive,  equally  sensitive, 
equally  apperceptive.  Human  beings  are  like  soil 
—  some  is  stony  ground  and  the  seed  takes  no 
root,  other  is  thorny,  and  the  seeds,  springing  up, 
are  choked,  other  still  is  good  ground  and  bears 
fruit,  some  thirty,  some  sixty,  some  an  hundred 
fold.  In  other  words  the  state  of  our  own  re- 
sponsiveness determines  the  effect  upon  us  of  the 
radiancy  of  the  objects  with  which  we  come  in 
contact. 

4 


RADIANCIES     OF    NATURE 

The  quartz  picked  up  from  a  ledge  may  be  full 
of  valuable  mineral,  but  to  the  ignorant  it  is  "  a 
piece  of  rock  and  nothing  more." 

The  ordinary  traveler  on  the  desert  sees  a  large 
black  beetle.  Knowing  nothing  of  beetles,  it  is  to 
him  "  only  a  bug."  But  the  scientific  entomolo- 
gist, seeing  the  same  beetle,  is  carried  away  with 
delight,  for  he  recognizes  the  rare  Dinapate 
Wrightii,  one  of  the  least  seen  and  most  rare 
of  American  beetles. 

Most  travelers  seeing  the  cactuses  of  the  desert 
note  but  a  few  varieties,  but  the  trained  observer 
revels  in  hundreds  of  differences  in  mammillaria, 
opwntias,  echinocactuses,  and  agave. 

Some  see  no  beauty  in  them,  some  delight  in 
their  many  and  diverse  charms;  to  some  their 
thorns  are  hideous  and  repulsive,  to  others  both 
interesting  and  beautiful  in  their  arrangement  and 
design. 

According  to  our  receptivity  do  these  objects 
of  Nature  affect  us  —  some  in  one  way,  some  an- 
other. The  more  sensitive  our  minds  and  souls 
are  to  what  they  perceive,  the  more  we  receive, 
absorb,  gain,  and,  therefore,  the  more  we  in  turn 
radiate  to  others,  but  we  must  remember  that  the 
character  and  quality  of  that  which  we  receive  will 
be  reflected,  therefore  it  is  necessary  to  be  con- 
stantly in  that  attitude  of  mind  which  is  receptive 
to  good  only. 

0 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    RADIANT    AURA 

SwEDENBORG,  who  was  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent of  scientists  and  engineers,  as  well  as  the 
founder  of  the  religious  system  that  bears  his 
name,  asserted  that  various  "  aura  "  surrounded 
all  living  beings,  and  that  the  mental  or  spiritual 
state  radiates,  just  as  light  and  heat  radiate  from 
the  sun,  and  cold  from  the  snow.  When  one  was 
angry,  he  said,  he  gave  out  the  aura  of  anger 
which  enveloped  him  as  a  cloud.  Hatred  had  its 
aura,  as  well  as  love,  sympathy,  purity,  impurity, 
kindliness,  charity,  jealousy,  courage,  justice,  and 
the  like. 

He  also  asserted  that,  to  those  who  were  simple, 
natural,  and  unspoiled  by  false  reasoning  —  those 
who  were  spiritually  inclined  —  these  varied  aura 
were  clearly  perceptible,  and  were  as  certainly 
felt  or  seen  as  were  heat,  cold,  whiteness,  blackness 
by  the  senses. 

Rudyard  Kipling  bases  his  story,  "  They," 
which  appeared  some  years  ago  in  Scribner's 
Magazine,  upon  this  statement  of  Swedenborg's, 
and  in  this  light  it  becomes  an  extra  fascinating 
story  to  read. 

6 


THE     RADIANT     AURA 

A  great  modern  French  scientist  has  made  many 
exhaustive  studies  of  these  aura,  and  claims  to 
have  photographed  them. 

In  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition,  one  of  the 
exhibits  contained  a  series  of  interesting  pictures, 
or  diagrams,  which  purported  to  be  exact  repre- 
sentations of  the  various  aura  of  people  under  dif- 
ferent mental  conditions.  In  an  article  on  this 
subject,  written  by  a  well-known  authority,  we  are 
told  that: 

It  is  not  around  the  human  body  alone  that  an  aura  is 
to  be  seen;  a  similar  cloud  of  light  surrounds  or  emanates 
from  animals,  trees,  and  even  minerals,  though  in  all  these 
cases  it  is  less  extended  and  less  complex  than  that  of  man. 

The  occultists  assert  that  the  aura  is  extremely 
complex  in  its  character,  in  other  words,  that 
there  are  several  aura  superposed  one  upon  the 
other.  The  first  appearance  is  of  a  luminous 
cloud,  extending  some  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet 
from  the  body,  assuming  a  somewhat  oval  shape. 
Careful  study,  however,  reveals  that  this  first  ap- 
pearance is  resolvable  into  several  component 
parts,  or  separate  aura,  of  different  degrees  of 
tenuity,  and,  apparently,  superposed.  Five  of 
these  have  been  defined.  The  first,  or  most  mate- 
rial, is  that  pertaining  to  the  physical  body.  In 
a  state  of  health  this  is  composed  of  separate, 
orderly,  and  nearly  parallel  lines,  which  radiate 
from  the  body  in  every  direction. 

7 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

When  one  suffers  from  disease  the  lines  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  part  affected  become  erratic, 
and  radiate  less  actively  but  in  the  wildest  con- 
fusion, or,  if  the  whole  body  be  affected,  all  the 
lines  are  consequently  erratic. 

For  a  long  time  it  was  not  known  what  kept 
these  lines  straight  and  approximately  parallel  in 
the  case  of  the  healthy  person,  until  a  second 
radiating  aura  was  discovered.  This  comes  from 
a  healthy  body  in  pulsating  waves,  with  such  vigor 
as  to  compel  the  rigidity  of  the  health  lines. 
These  waves  may  be  compared  to  the  pulsations 
of  the  heated  air  which  rise  from  the  ground  on 
a  very  hot  day.  Baron  Reichenbach  made  experi- 
ments with  certain  sensitives  who  declared  they 
could  see  these  radiations,  and  he  called  them  "  the 
magnetic  flame." 

When  these  "  waves  "  come  from  a  sickly  or 
weakly  body  they  not  only  lose  power,  but  seem 
to  give  a  confused  direction  to  the  health  lines. 

Many  observations  also  have  led  to  the  con- 
clusion that  when  the  lines  are  kept  straight  by 
the  force  of  the  pulsating  waves  from  a  healthy 
and  vigorous  body,  "  it  seems  to  be  almost  entirely 
protected  from  the  attack  of  evil  physical  influ- 
ences, such  as  germs  of  disease  —  such  germs  being 
repelled  and  carried  away  by  the  outrush  of  the 
life-force :  but  when  from  any  cause  —  through 
weakness,  through  wound  or  injury,  through  over- 

8 


THE     RADIANT     AURA 

fatigue,  through  extreme  depression  of  spirits,  or 
through  the  excesses  of  an  irregular  life  —  an 
unusually  large  amount  of  vitality  is  required  to 
repair  damage  or  waste,  within  the  body,  and 
there  is  consequently  a  serious  diminution  in 
the  quantity  radiated,  this  system  of  defense 
becomes  dangerously  weak,  and  it  is  compara- 
tively easy  for  the  deadly  germs  to  effect  an  en- 
trance." 

The  third  aura  is  that  which  expresses  one's 
desires  —  a  kind  of  mirror  in  which  every  feeling, 
every  desire,  every  thought  almost,  of  the  per- 
sonality is  reflected.  This  changes  constantly,  in 
some  people,  accordingly  as  they  are  swayed  by 
their  impulses.  Its  colors,  brilliancy,  rate  of 
pulsations,  alter  from  moment  to  moment,  or  min- 
ute to  minute.  "  An  outburst  of  anger  will 
charge  the  whole  aura  with  deep-red  flashes  on  a 
black  ground;  a  sudden  fright  in  a  moment  will 
change  everything  to  a  mass  of  ghastly  livid 
gray." 

Connected  with  this,  and  yet,  seemingly,  of  a 
separate  character,  are  the  radiations  of  the  aura 
that  express  the  progress  of  the  personality  into 
higher  and  better  appreciation  of  the  things  of 
mind  and  spirit.  The  more  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual one  becomes  the  more  steady  and  beautiful 
are  the  colors  and  radiations  of  this  aura,  and  the 
variations  and  distressing  manifestations  of  the 

9 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

evil  desires  of  the  third  aura  become  less  apparent 
and  distinct. 

The  fifth  aura  is  the  highest  at  present  discern- 
ible. It  manifests  the  spiritual  development  of 
the  individual  and  is  of  almost  inconceivable  deli- 
cacy and  beauty.  It  seems  to  be  a  cloud  of  living 
light  —  the  word  cloud  being  used  for  want  of  a 
better  term. 

In  the  concrete  examples  of  aura  that  were 
presented  at  the  Exposition,  that  which  radiated 
from  a  wise  mother  showing  her  protective  love 
for  her  infant,  was  in  the  form  of  outspread  wings 
of  a  beautiful  rosy  tint,  the  wings  held  together  at 
the  articulations  by  a  sheaf-like  mass  of  golden 
yellow. 

Selfish  ambition,  sudden  fear,  explosive  anger, 
selfishness,  grasping  animal  affection,  greed,  jeal- 
ousy, jealousy  mixed  with  anger,  gloom,  murder- 
ous hatred,  were  all  displayed  in  peculiar,  hideous, 
and  repulsive  forms  and  colors. 

Pure,  radiating  affection,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
represented  in  the  form  and  color  of  a  round  body 
exhaling  rays  as  from  a  rosy  sun.  Strange  to 
say,  though  I  had  never  read  anything  explicit 
upon  this  subject  before,  I  had  always  conceived 
of  pure  affection  as  giving  forth  radiations  of  this 
exact  appearance. 

Whether  this  "  occult  "  explanation  of  the  radi- 
ation of  aura  be  a  true  one  or  not,  it  serves  to  give 

10 


THE     RADIANT    AURA 

one  a  beautiful  conception,  viz.,  that  every  soul 
may  strive  so  to  live  within  that  he  sheds  upon  his 
fellows  glorious  rays  of  light,  serenity,  warmth, 
comfort,  blessing,  joy,  happiness  that  help  them 
to  the  attainment  of  like  felicities. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  this  chapter  Swedenborg's 
assertion  will  be  recalled  that  those  who  were  un- 
spoiled, real  children  of  Nature,  could  actually 
perceive  these  aura,  and  that  their  acts  were  guided 
or  influenced  by  them  just  as  ours  are  by  the  per- 
ceptions of  our  five  senses. 

When  I  began  to  visit  the  Hopi  Indians  in 
Northern  Arizona,  who  celebrate  that  wonder- 
fully thrilling  religious  ceremony  known  as  the 
Snake  Dance,  I  found  that  their  lives  conformed 
exactly  to  this  aura  assumption.  They  handle 
deadly  rattlesnakes  with  fearlessness,  putting 
small  ones  into  their  mouths  so  that  nothing  but 
their  heads  protrude,  and  larger  ones,  up  to  five 
feet  in  length,  in  their  teeth,  head  on  one  side  of 
the  mouth,  the  writhing,  wriggling  body  on  the 
other.  Young  boys,  from  three  to  six  and  ten 
years  of  age  —  neophytes  of  the  Antelope  Clan, 
which,  with  the  Snake  Clan,  has  charge  of  this 
ceremonial  prayer  for  rain  —  hold  these  snakes 
during  a  part  of  the  ceremony  with  an  indifferent 
carelessness  that  is  appalling  to  most  onlookers. 
On  the  other  hand  those  who  are  alive  to  the  dan- 
gers attending  the  handling  of  snakes  assert  posi- 

11 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

tively  that  the  reptiles  must  have  their  fangs  re- 
moved, as  otherwise  they  would  bite,  and  either 
cause  death  or  dangerous  sicknesses. 

Yet  both  classes  of  observers  are  in  error.  The 
snakes  are  not  handled  carelessly,  nor  are  their 
fangs  removed.  Apparent  carelessness  is  often 
the  result  of  years  of  training,  the  ease  and  readi- 
ness that  come  with  much  experience.  Fearless- 
ness is  another  result  of  experience  and  knowledge. 
But,  once  in  a  while,  a  member  of  the  Snake  Clan 
is  afraid,  and  at  such  times  he  is  not  allowed  to 
dance.  In  this  exclusion  is  a  strong  suggestion 
that  the  Hopis  fully  believe  that  not  only  do  the 
aura  of  our  mental  and  spiritual  states  surround 
us,  but  that  even  to  the  lower  animals  they  are  as 
perceptible  as  light,  heat,  and  cold.  It  may  be 
true  that  the  truly  occult,  or  clairvoyant,  by  pure 
and  simple  living,  return  to  the  clarity  of  spiritual 
perception  of  the  child  and  the  lower  animals,  and 
they  likewise  see  and  understand.  In  the  case  of 
the  snakes,  the  Hopis  believe  that  if  a  dancer  is 
afraid  it  makes  the  snake  afraid.  In  other  words, 
the  reptile  sees  or  discerns  the  "  fear  aura,"  and, 
at  once,  its  own  fear  is  awakened.  When  afraid 
it  assumes  the  defensive,  for  that  is  its  only  mode 
of  protection.  It  coils  ready  to  strike,  and  rat- 
tles in  warning :  Beware ! 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  dancer  is  unafraid 
and  handles  the  reptile  in  the  true  Hopi  spirit,  viz., 


THE     RADIANT     AURA 

as  his  Elder  Brother  —  for,  according  to  Hopi 
mythology,  the  Snake  Clan  originates  with  the 
Snake  Mother,  and  therefore  all  members  of  it  are 
younger  brothers  to  all  snakes  —  the  aura  of 
friendliness  and  brotherly  kindliness  surrounds 
him,  which,  being  perceived  by  the  snake,  it  is  at 
once  soothed  and  allows  itself  to  be  handled  with 
restfulness  and  assurance  of  safety.  And  in  the 
thirteen  times  that  I  have  witnessed  the  Snake 
Dance  (and  several  times  been  privileged  to  see 
and  take  part  in  the  secret  ceremonials  of  the  un- 
derground chambers  where  the  snakes  are  handled 
and  washed),  only  twice  have  I  known  any  one  to 
be  bitten.* 

*  For  a  full  and  complete  description  of  the  Snake 
Dance  see  the  writings  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Fewkes  in  the  Reports 
of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Ethnology  and  my  own  Indians 
of  the  Painted  Desert  Region,  published  by  Little,  Brown 
&  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 


13 


CHAPTER  III 

A    FEW    WORDS    IN    PASSING 

1  ERHAPS  the  majority  of  human  beings  do  not 
really  Iwe:  they  merely  exist  for  a  time  in  the  flesh 
and  for  the  flesh.  And  as  all  are  constantly  re- 
minded that  such  existence  is  temporary  and  fleet- 
ing it  is  a  very  common  belief  that  only  in  youth 
can  one  "  have  a  good  time."  Old  age  is  dreaded 
because  we  have  been  taught  to  expect  a  greater 
or  lesser  degree  of  decrepitude,  pain,  and  physical 
disability  when  we  shall  pass  the  so-called  "  Bible- 
limit  "  of  three-score  years  and  ten,  and,  there- 
fore, we  anticipate  losing  our  powers  of  enjoy- 
ment. Fathers  and  mothers  encourage  their  chil- 
dren to  "  make  the  most  of  their  youth,"  and  to 
"get  all  out  of  life  they  can  while  they  have  the 
opportunity,"  thus  fostering  and  cultivating  a 
high  state  of  nervous  tension  in  young  people  that 
is  demoralizing  in  every  way. 

I  believe  this  attitude  is  wrong,  and  yet  I  be- 
lieve fully  in  "  having  a  good  time."  I  believe 
God  intended  that  all  living  beings  should  be 
happy,  and  that  it  is  possible  to  order  our  lives  — 
our  habits,  actions,  thoughts,  desires,  and  ambi- 


A    FEW    WORDS    IN    PASSING 

tions  —  so  that  every  conscious  hour  of  every 
day  will  be  full  of  real  joy.  I  believe  in  the 
buoyancy,  the  happiness,  the  radiancy,  the  per- 
fection of  life.  Browning  expresses  my  thought 
in  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  and  in  Saul.  In  the  latter  he 
says: 

Oh,  our  manhood's  prime  vigor!    No  spirit  feels  waste, 
Not  a  muscle  is  stopped  in  its  playing  nor  sinew  unbraced, 
Oh,  the  wild  joys  of  living!  .  .  . 

How  good  is  man's  life,  the  mere  living,  how  fit  to  employ 
All  the  heart  and  the  soul  and  the  senses  forever  in  joy! 

And  in  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra  he  says : 

Grow    old    along   with   me! 
The  best  [of  life]  is  yet  to  be. 

And  why  should  not  old  age  be  the  best  part  of 
life?  Does  experience  count  for  nothing?  Can 
we  not  learn  as  the  years  roll  along?  Do  we  grow 
more  foolish  as  we  grow  old?  If  so  it  might  be 
advisable  to  let  the  facetious  suggestion  of  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Osier  be  carried  out  in  order  that 
all  men  might  be  chloroformed  at  the  age  of  fifty. 
If,  however,  history  and  experience  teach  us  that 
the  intellectual  faculties  and  reasoning  powers  of 
a  man  in  normal  health  do  not  decrease  with  age, 
let  us  protest  vigorously  against  the  false  and 
injurious  statement  that  youth  is  the  best  part  of 
life,  and  let  us  advocate  that  we  should  all  possess 
greater  mental  and  spiritual  ability  at  ninety  than 

15 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

at    thirty,    with    physical    powers    of    endurance 
ample  for  every  need. 

It  is  recorded  in  the  Bible  that  many  of  the 
ancients  lived  to  be  several  hundred  years  old,  and 
some  of  them  were  vigorously  active  at  great  age. 
We  are  told  that  Cornaro  lived  many  years  more 
than  a  century,  and  I  have  personally  known  In- 
dians of  great  physical  power  and  keen  mentality 
who  were  over  one  hundred  years  old.  Doubtless 
all  are  familiar  with  instances  of  great  mental  and 
physical  ability  at  an  advanced  age,  and  this  is  an 
encouragement  for  us  to  believe  that  health  and 
happiness  and  usefulness  are  not  confined  to  the 
early  decades  of  human  life.  My  words,  there- 
fore, are  not  addressed  merely  to  the  young,  but 
to  those  of  all  ages,  for  it  is  never  too  late  to 
gain  more  of  that  mental  health  which  strengthens 
body,  mind,  and  soul  —  the  real  life  which  is  mani- 
fested in  love,  joy,  and  all  goodness,  and  con- 
stantly radiates  life-giving  qualities.  Radiancy 
is  a  condition  of  all  life,  as  I  use  the  term  in  these 
pages.  No  person  can  rightly  live  and  retain 
within  himself  that  which  he  possesses  in  abund- 
ance. We  must  give  out  in  order  to  live.  Christ 
never  spake  a  truer  word  than  when  He  declared : 
"He  that  loveth  his  life  shall  lose  it."  Those 
who  are  so  careful  to  keep  all  of  their  lives  for 
themselves,  who  never  give  of  themselves  to  others, 
who  know  nothing  of  the  joy  of  self-sacrifice,  of 

16 


A    FEW    WORDS     IN     PASSING 

service,  of  helpfulness  —  these  people  defeat  the 
very  object  of  their  selfishness  by  losing  that  which 
they  are  so  determined  to  retain.  On  the  other 
hand,  "  he  that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world  shall 
keep  it  unto  life  eternal."  Or,  as  Joaquin  Miller 
exquisitely  and  forcefully  puts  it  in  his  unequaled 
couplet : 

For  all  you  can  hold  in  your  dead,  cold  hand, 
Is  what  you  have  given  away. 

So,  then,  radiation  of  the  good  of  ourselves  be- 
comes an  essential  condition  in  itself  of  real  life. 
This  law  of  radiation  is  apparent  everywhere  in 
life.  For,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  willingly 
or  unwillingly,  each  man  and  woman  radiates  what 
is  within.  The  moment  you  come  into  the  presence 
of  some  men  you  feel  their  uprightness,  their  integ- 
rity, their  truth.  Other  men  impress  you  in  a 
moment  as  untruthful,  dishonorable,  and  unrelia- 
ble. Some  radiate  confidence,  so  that  the  weak 
and  uncertain  rely  upon  them;  others  the  hesi- 
tancy and  fear  of  incertitude.  Others  are  radiant 
centers  of  conceit  and  overweening  self-esteem, 
which  is  an  entirely  different  radiancy  from  that 
of  self-confidence  and  true  self-reliance  combined 
with  good  sense  and  modesty.  Some  people  radi- 
ate gluttony,  others  drunkenness,  others  impurity, 
others  dishonesty.  You  have  not  been  in  the  pres- 
ence of  some  persons  five  minutes  before  you  feel 

17 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

that  they  radiate  "  Every  man  has  his  price."  It 
is  a  great  temptation  when  I  come  into  the  pres- 
ence of  such  people  to  ask,  "  What  is  your  price?  " 
and  then  myself  to  give  the  answer :  "  Thirty 
cents,  and  it  is  twenty-nine  cents  too  dear." 

During  a  recent  little  outing  trip  I  could  not 
help  witnessing  the  varying  radiancies  of  a  friend 
and  the  thirty  students  that  he  invited  to  accom- 
pany us.  One  young  man  was  full  of  physical 
energy,  good  nature,  and  helpfulness.  With  keen 
eye  he  was  prompt  to  notice  any  failure  to  keep 
up  in  the. less  strong  of  the  girls,  and,  with  jollity 
and  jest,  but  with  real  consideration  and  helpful- 
ness, he  aided  the  weaklings  whenever  and  wherever 
possible.  One  of  the  girls  radiated  an  abundance 
of  joyous  healthfulness  that  made  it  a  pleasure  to 
watch  her.  Another  was  a  thoughtless  go-ahead 
young  miss,  who  led  a  large  part  of  the  group  a 
mile  or  two  out  of  the  way.  Two  of  the  girls 
were  fault-finders,  three  were  radiators  of  efficient 
initiative  when  time  came  for  preparing  lunch,  and 
half  a  dozen  were  "  ready  to  help,"  but  had  no 
idea  how  to  go  to  work  until  directed  by  some  one 
else.  One  was  able  to  determine  somewhat  the  real 
character  of  the  persons  by  that  which  they  radi- 
ated. Of  course,  that  is  not  always  a  sure  guide, 
for  one  may  pretend,  or  affect  the  possession  of 
qualities  that  are  not  inherent.  Yet  if  we  lived 
the  true  life  and  never  dulled  the  keenness  of  our 

18 


A    FEW    WORDS     IN    PASSING 

sense  perceptions,  we  should  be  like  the  animals 
and  able  to  rely  absolutely  upon  what  we  felt  of 
the  radiancies  of  others.  Who  has  not  seen  the 
keen  readiness  of  a  horse  to  "  sense  "  the  mental 
condition  of  the  man  who  was  driving  him?  Sup- 
pose two  men  sit  in  the  buggy.  One  holds  the 
lines,  but  is  unused  to  driving  and  especially  nerv- 
ous in  a  city.  He  radiates  nervousness  and  fear, 
uncertainty  and  hesitancy.  The  horse  feels  these 
radiancies  and  himself  is  nervous,  fretful,  fearful, 
hesitant,  and  uncertain.  Seeing  this,  his  friend 
takes  the  lines.  Almost  instantly,  though  the 
horse  has  "  blinders  "  on  and  cannot  possibly  know 
by  any  ordinary  sense  perception  that  a  change 
has  taken  place  in  his  driver,  he  calms  and  quiets 
down,  and  goes  ahead  without  further  fear,  hesi- 
tancy, or  nervousness. 

With  dogs,  every  one  knows  that  to  be  afraid 
of  a  barking,  yelping,  aggressive  cur  is  to  invite 
him  to  bite  you.  But  if  you  advance  upon  him 
boldly  and  without  any  fear  he  will  retreat  in 
snarling  dismay,  and  if  you  make  a  bold  dash  at 
him  he  turns  tail  like  the  veriest  coward  and  runs. 
In  my  many  visits  to  Indian  villages  and  camps  I 
have  tested  this  again  and  again.  I  have  had  a 
dozen  dogs  run  out  as  if  they  would  tear  me  to 
pieces.  Had  I  turned  and  run  there  is  no  doubt 
that,  unless  their  owners  had  interfered,  I  should 
have  been  bitten.  But,  knowing  the  nature  of  the 

19 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

ill-bred  curs  of  the  Indians,  I  advanced  boldly 
upon  them,  kicking  to  left  and  right,  if  the  ani- 
mals were  more  than  usually  persistent,  and  invari- 
ably following  into  his  own  place  of  refuge  the 
animal  that  seemed  to  be  the  leader,  and  there  giv- 
ing him  one  or  two  sharp  blows  or  decisive  kicks. 
The  result  was  always  the  same.  So  long  as  I 
stayed  in  that  camp  I  was  never  bothered  again. 
They  readily  and  quickly  understood  the  radiancy 
of  boldness  and  that  of  kindness  when  they  ceased 
their  fierce  aggressiveness,  and  never  pestered  me 
again. 

This  same  radiant  power  of  others  is  often  rec- 
ognized by  lawless  men  and  by  criminals.  A  fear- 
less woman  can  go  into  places  of  great  danger 
with  absolute  safety,  and  a  fearless  and  honest 
officer  can  arrest  the  most  desperate  and  danger- 
ous men  far  more  easily  than  can  a  dozen  fearful 
and  dishonest  ones. 

Thus  it  will  be  apparent  that : 

Every  person,  animal,  and  thing,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  radiates 
good  or  evil. 

As  human  beings  we  radiate  that  which  we  pos- 
sess, or  that  which  possesses  us,  and  we  influence 
those  with  whom  we  come  in  contact  by  our  radi- 
ancies. 

The  questions,  then,  that  every  true-hearted  man 
and  woman  must,  and  will,  ask  are :  "  Am  I 

#0 


A    FEW    WORDS    IN    PASSING 

radiating  good  or  evil?  If  evil,  why?  If  good, 
am  I  radiating  as  much  as  I  might  and  should?  " 
For  myself  I  want  every  man  and  woman  I  meet 
or  shake  hands  with,  to  feel  that  I  am  physically 
strong,  healthy,  and  vigorous;  that  I  have  vigor 
and  health  of  mind ;  that  I  think  for  myself,  rather 
than  accept  the  opinions  of  others,  and  that  in 
character,  in  spirit,  in  soul,  I  am  healthy,  vigor- 
ous, sincere,  pure,  true ;  that  my  emotions,  my 
aspirations,  my  ambitions  are  noble  and  upward. 
I  want  to  radiate  spiritual  health.  Do  you? 


CHAPTER  IV 

VARIED    RADIANCIES 

IVlAN  is  a  part  of  Nature,  but  he  is  more  than 
that  which  we  mean  by  the  words,  "  mere  Nature." 
He  is  Nature  plus.  There  is  given  to  him  more 
than  is  possessed  by  sun  or  flower.  He  has  within 
him  that  spirit  which  renders  him  nearer  the  divine 
than  sun  or  flower.  Mind  and  soul  make  him  a 
superior  being.  Hence  it  is  the  divine  plan  that  he 
should  radiate  in  his  enlarged  sphere  as  the  sun 
and  flower  do  in  theirs. 

Unfortunately,  while  we  are  in  the  body,  our 
imperfect  and  evil  qualities  are  radiated  as  well 
as  our  good.  This  is  our  misfortune,  and  should 
be  our  distress.  For  certainly  every  true  man 
and  woman  would  desire  to  radiate  only  truth, 
purity,  sincerity,  courage,  good  judgment,  self- 
control,  stamina,  or  perseverance  in  good  en- 
deavor, energy,  love  of  knowledge,  mental  capac- 
ity, justice,  tact,  ability,  executive  power,  regard 
for  the  rights  of  others,  kindliness,  individuality, 
self-reliance,  readiness  to  avail  one's  self  of  the 
wisdom  of  others,  self-dependence,  attractiveness 
of  person,  companionable  qualities,  good  manners, 


VARIED    RADIANCIES 

good  taste  in  dress,  attractiveness  of  mind  and 
soul  (this  as  differentiated  from  mere  attractive- 
ness of  person),  cheerfulness,  optimism,  and  al- 
truism, readiness  to  see  and  have  faith  in  the  good 
of  others,  and  good  humor.* 

Who  could  ever  resist  the  radiating  influences 
of  a  Mark  Tapley,  such  as  Dickens  so  vividly  pic- 
tures? Such  radiancies  penetrate  so  deeply  that 
nothing  can  obliterate  them.  The  greater  the 
cause  for  wretchedness  and  misery,  the  greater  the 
opportunity  to  "  come  out  strong  "  and  show  that 
his  spirit  of  cheerfulness  was  greater  than  any  un- 
toward circumstance.  Happy  is  that  man  or 
woman  who  gives  out  such  radiancies,  and  blessed 
are  those  who  come  in  contact  with  them. 

Certain  men  and  women  radiate  gloom  and  the 
abnormal  recognition  of  their  physical  ills.  You 
greet  them  with  a  cheery  "  Good  morning  "  and 
they  respond  with  an  explicitly  detailed  wail  of 
their  ailments.  Their  rheumatism  is  "  so  bad," 
and  their  liver  is  out  of  order.  Their  backache 
is  worse,  and  their  headache  is  "  simply  frightful." 

Brooding  over  their  pains  and  aches  has  magni- 
fied them  so  that  they  overshadow  all  things  else 
in  the  universe.  An  earthquake  and  fire  that  de- 
stroy a  great  city  are  of  less  importance  to  them 
than  the  recital  of  their  own  woes. 

*  This  list,  with  slight  variations,  is  taken  from  the  Cos- 
mopolitan, Vol.  XXXVIII,  No.  2. 

23 


LIVING    THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

How  different  the  cheery  radiancies  of  the  happy 
man  —  like  Dickens's  Cheeryble  Brothers  —  who 
gives  out  breezy  healthfulness  on  every  hand. 
The  clasp  of  the  hand  radiates  physical  vigor  that 
in  itself  is  a  tonic  to  the  body;  their  bright  and 
cheerful  words  brace  up  the  mind ;  and  their  God- 
like optimism  and  altruism  lift  up  the  soul  so  that 
—  above  the  mists  and  fogs  of  mortal  error  —  we 
see  God  and  enjoy  His  smile. 

Some  persons  radiate  selfishness.  I  was  riding 
in  the  train  the  other  day.  A  woman  had  two 
whole  seats,  that  is,  her  suit  case  took  up  one  and 
she  sat  on  the  other.  The  car  was  filled  with 
people;  every  other  seat  occupied.  At  the  next 
station  eight  or  ten  people  came  aboard,  and  all 
found  places  by  the  side  of  some  one  else,  except 
one  woman.  Walking  down  to  where  the  whole 
seat  was  occupied  by  the  suit  case  she  asked  the 
owner  if  she  might  have  the  seat.  "  I  suppose  if 
there's  no  other  you  can  have  it !  "  she  replied  in  a 
surly  and  gruff  tone.  God  save  us  from  radiating 
selfishness  like  this ! 

It  is  an  almost  daily  occurrence  to  see  a  tired 
man  or  woman  get  upon  a  street  car  and  no  one 
makes  a  move  to  give  a  seat,  when  that  is  all  it 
needs  —  just  a  little  sitting  nearer.  This  may  be 
thoughtlessness,  but  all  the  same  it  is  selfishness; 
a  forgetfulness  of  the  sweet  privilege  of  helping 
others,  no  matter  who. 

*i 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

The  wife  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere  once  sent  a  servant 
to  meet  her  husband,  who  was  just  returning  from 
Africa,  an  illness  preventing  her  from  going. 
The  man  did  not  know  Sir  Bartle,  and  he  asked 
for  a  description.  "  The  only  description  you 
will  need,"  said  his  wife,  "  is  this :  Look  out  for 
a  fine-looking  man  who  is  helping  some  poor  woman 
carry  a  baby,  or  a  basket,  or  a  load."  And,  sure 
enough,  when  the  train  arrived  he  found  the  dis- 
tinguished diplomat,  the  great  statesman,  helping 
a  poor  laundry  woman  carry  her  large  basket  of 
soiled  linen.  Ah,  Sir  Bartle,  I  greet  you  a  noble- 
man indeed,  for  you  have  radiated  unselfishness, 
thoughtful  helpfulness,  to  me,  and  through  me,  to 
others,  and  thus  out  and  on  forever. 

Some  persons  radiate  cynical  distrust  of  their 
fellows.  "  There  are  no  honest  men ! "  "I 
wouldn't  believe  in  the  integrity  of  that  man  under 
oath."  "  Believe  every  man  dishonest  until  he  has 
proven  himself  honest,  and  even  then,  watch  out. 
He'll  be  liable  to  catch  you  if  you  nap."  "  Do 
others  as  they  would  do  you,  but  do  it  first,"  said 
David  Harum.  "  A  profession  of  religion  is  but 
a  cloak  for  evil."  "  If  your  bank  cashier  is  a 
Sunday-school  Superintendent,  watch  him ! " 
"  Look  out  for  the  man  who  has  no  open  vices." 

These  are  the  catchwords  of  this  class  of  per- 
sons. How  pernicious  and  evil  are  their  radi- 
ancies. 

25 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Commend  the  fearless  bravery  of  a  Roosevelt, 
the  unpopular  decisions  of  an  upright  judge,  the 
single-heartedness  of  a  labor  leader,  the  integrity 
of  a  railroad  official,  and  you  are  met  with  the 
sneer  of  the  lip,  the  cynical  glance  of  the  eye  and 
the  scornful  words :  "  He's  only  waiting  for  his 
price." 

Far  rather  would  I  meet  the  converse  of  this 
cynic  in  the  optimist  who  believes  that  every  man 
is  as  good  as  he  professes  to  be.  For  such  an 
abounding  faith  in  mankind,  freely  radiated,  has 
the  effect  of  calling  forth  faithfulness,  and  thus 
creating  what  it  expects. 

I  know  a  woman  who,  though  abundant  in  good 
works  and  very  kindly  in  some  ways,  who  seeks  op- 
portunities for  helping  the  helpless  and  distressed, 
yet,  when  others  fail  to  measure  up  to  her  own 
standard,  is  harsh,  censorious,  bitter,  and  fault- 
finding to  a  degree  that  many  find  it  impossible 
to  listen  to  her  without  distress.  Thus  her  kindly 
deeds  are  overlooked  and  ignored  and  she  radiates 
to  a  large  degree  discomfort,  unrest,  and  irrita- 
tion. 

At  our  house  we  were  once  privileged  to  know 
a  woman,  recently  widowed,  who  had  a  crippled 
and  almost  helpless  son  of  about  a  dozen  years  of 
age.  When  her  husband  was  alive  she  was  the 
president  of  the  leading  woman's  club  in  her  State 
and  also  the  president  of  the  State  Federation  of 

26 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

Women's  Clubs  —  a  woman  of  executive  ability 
and  strong  mentality,  though  shy  and  unassuming. 
Her  husband  was  a  well-known  Governmental 
specialist  in  plants,  trees,  etc.,  and  she  had  aided 
him,  in  some  of  his  investigations,  to  such  a  degree 
that  she  was  almost  as  expert  as  he.  Unfortu- 
nately she  was  afflicted  with  deafness.  When  her 
husband  died  she  was  left  with  only  a  few  hundred 
dollars.  Her  deafness  prevented  her  taking  any 
of  the  positions  her  mental  qualifications  so  emi- 
nently fitted  her  to  fill.  Her  crippled  son  must  be 
cared  for.  Bravely  and  fearlessly,  yet  cautiously 
and  studiously,  she  determined  to  make  the  living 
for  herself  and  son.  She  bought  a  small  ranch, 
planted  it  out  in  vegetables  and  small  fruit,  and,  as 
the  crops  matured,  personally  drove  to  town  and 
marketed  them.  Yet  with  all  this  arduous  work 
and  care  she  found  time  and  strength  to  read  to 
her  boy  (whose  eyesight  was  poor),  to  help  him 
in  his  studies  and  sympathize  with  him  in  his  boy- 
ish endeavors  to  accomplish  something  as  an  elec- 
trician. There  was  no  complaining,  no  weeping 
at  her  hard  fate  —  simply  a  brave  recognition  of 
her  position  and  a  cheerful  facing  of  the  responsi- 
bilities thrust  upon  her.  The  sorrow  and  pain 
she  felt  keenly,  yet  one  saw  no  sign  of  suffering. 
One  day  she  came  to  our  home  and  would  have 
said  nothing  of  her  difficulties  had  we  not  pressed 
her  to  tell  us  about  her  affairs.  She  made  no 

27 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

claim  for  sympathy  because  of  the  way  Fate  had 
tried  her,  but  when  we  offered  it,  in  our  simple  and 
unpretentious  fashion,  she  accepted  it  in  as  simple 
and  unaffected  a  way.  Her  uncomplaining  cour- 
age, her  fearless  grappling  with  the  hard  problems 
of  life,  radiated  inspiration  to  all  who  came  in 
close  enough  contact  to  know  her.  We  were  all 
benefited  and  blessed  by  her  presence  and  the  help- 
ful radiancies  she  shed  upon  us. 

Here  is  another  case.  We  are  honored  and 
blessed  with  the  friendship  of  the  widow  of  an 
Episcopal  clergyman.  For  over  twenty-five  years 
she  and  her  husband  lived  in  marital  oneness,  and 
seven  boys  and  girls  crowned  their  happiness. 
She  awoke  one  morning  to  find  him  dead  by  her 
side.  The  shock  was  crushing  and  few  would  have 
blamed  her  had  she  been  incapacitated  for  a  while 
by  its  sudden  awfulness.  But  in  an  instant  she 
leaped  to  meet  her  burdens  and  responsibilities. 
Religion  was  real  to  her.  Her  husband  was  with 
God.  He  was  safe.  It  was  her  duty  now  to  be 
both  father  and  mother  to  her  children.  A  strug- 
gle then  began  which  is  as  pathetic  as  it  is  heroic. 
I  have  watched  every  battle  and  known  the  cour- 
age, the  patience,  the  fidelity,  the  failures,  the  suc- 
cesses. A  house,  partially  built  with  funds  con- 
tributed by  friends,  was  eventually  lost  to  the 
mortgagees.  The  oldest  daughter,  after  years  of 
brave  and  cheerful  struggle  with  poverty  and  ill- 

28 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

health,  passed  away.  A  few  years  later,  within  a 
week  of  each  other,  two  of  the  noble  sons,  one 
about  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  the  other  nine- 
teen, the  former  the  most  Christ-like  youth  I  have 
ever  known,  also  died.  Then  the  third  daughter, 
happily  married,  died  after  giving  birth  to  her 
third  child,  and,  in  a  short  time,  owing  to  some 
strange  perversion  which  it  is  hard  to  understand, 
the  son-in-law  took  it  into  his  head  to  refuse  the 
grandmother  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  children. 
The  one  remaining  son,  who  had  studied  with  hon- 
ors at  the  California  State  University,  went  East 
to  complete  his  special  studies  at  Yale,  suddenly 
collapsed  mentally,  and  was  cared  for  for  a  long 
time  in  an  Eastern  hospital. 

Think  of  the  tragedies  and  sorrows  thus 
crowded  into  one  life  in  the  short  space  of  twenty 
years !  Yet  during  the  whole  of  this  time,  though 
I  have  been  as  close  to  the  family  as  though  I  were 
an  uncle  or  older  brother ;  though  all  their  affairs 
have  been  regularly  and  fully  unfolded  to  me, 
there  have  been  absolutely  no  wailings,  no  repin- 
ings,  no  complaints,  and  only  the  few  tears  that  it 
is  a  relief  to  let  flow  when  loving  hearts  sympa- 
thize. Instead,  this  brave  woman,  her  heart  forti- 
fied by  an  abiding  faith  in  and  love  for  God,  has 
been  "  abundant  in  good  works."  She  is  the 
"  right  hand  support  of  her  clergyman,"  and  every 
poor  and  needy  person  in  the  parish  has  experi- 

29 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

enced  her  practical  interest,  help,  and  loving  sym- 
pathy. Though  unable  personally  to  contribute 
of  material  things,  she  has  interested  those  who 
could,  and  has  thus  made  her  sympathy  practical 
and  genuine.  Her  home  for  many  years  was  the 
rallying  ground  for  homeless  young  men  —  mainly, 
of  course,  belonging  to  her  own  church  —  who 
have  been  immeasurably  blessed  by  her  motherly 
sympathy,  loving  counsel,  and  helpful  advice. 

There  radiates  from  her  and  her  family  a  living 
belief  in  the  goodness  of  God,  an  assurance  that 
"  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God,"  and  that  faith  in  God  produces  a  living 
courage,  and  daily  strength,  a  power  to  overcome 
affliction  that  is  nigh  to  the  marvelous.  To  some 
it  might  appear  almost  like  indifference ;  yet  those 
who  know,  as  I  do,  can  testify  to  the  keenness  of 
the  inner  feeling,  the  longing  for  the  companion 
whose  dear  presence  was  so  awfully  and  suddenly 
removed,  the  heart-crushing  losses  of  children,  the 
terrible  burden  of  the  mental  disturbance  of  the 
brilliant-minded  and  noble-hearted  son.  To  be 
brave,  cheerful,  helpful  to  others,  and  strong  to 
do  under  such  burdens  is  to  prove  one's  self  pos- 
sessed of  the  power  of  the  living  God.  It  is  the 
radiation  of  the  truths  of  religion  more  potent 
than  all  the  arguments  of  all  the  theologians  of 
all  the  ages. 

Still  another  case  comes  to  mind  while  I  write. 
30 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

It  is  of  a  woman  who  braved  disinheritance  by  a 
stern  father  in  order  that  she  might  marry  the 
man  she  loved.  She  came  to  the  United  States 
with  him,  and  on  a  vineyard  in  California  they 
struggled  happily  together,  with  a  poverty  that 
was  almost  sordid  in  its  piteousness.  After  two 
children  were  born  the  husband  died,  leaving  the 
wife  with  these  little  ones,  together  with  another 
child  whom  she  had  practically  adopted,  and  a 
mortgage  at  heavy  rates  of  interest  upon  the 
home  place.  The  house  in  which  they  had  lived 
for  several  years  was  poor  and  altogether  devoid 
of  comfort,  but  shortly  before  the  husband's  death 
it  had  been  made  comfortable  by  the  addition  of 
several  good  rooms. 

Without  a  word  of  complaint  this  delicately 
nurtured,  refined  woman,  who,  in  her  English  home, 
had  been  the  organist  and  director  of  the  choir  of 
a  large  church,  took  up  the  burden  of  running  a 
California  fruit  farm.  Heavily  in  debt,  interest 
imperatively  demanded  every  three  months,  know- 
ing little  of  the  practical  working  of  such  a  place, 
she  personally  took  hold  and  learned.  She  milked 
cows  night  and  morning,  took  them  back  and  forth 
to  pasture,  bred  calves  for  the  butcher,  made  but- 
ter, raised  chickens,  drove  weary  miles  summer  and 
winter  giving  music  lessons,  and  yet  kept  home 
more  comfortable  for  her  growing  brood  than  does 
many  a  woman  well  provided  with  funds  and  help. 

31 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

In  time  the  mortgage  was  paid  off,  and  a  windmill 
and  water  tank  added  to  the  equipment  of  the 
place.  The  children  helped  as  they  grew  up,  and 
yet  they  were  kept  at  school. 

When  apricots  and  peaches  were  ripe  I  have  seen 
her  for  days  and  weeks  at  a  time  cutting  and  pit- 
ting them  for  drying,  until  a  half  score  or  more 
of  tons  were  lying  in  their  drying  trays  on  the 
alfalfa.  For  hours  at  a  time,  in  the  hot  sun,  she 
sorted  raisins  and  stacked  them  up  in  the  sweat- 
boxes,  and  did  it  happily,  cheerfully,  uncomplain- 
ingly, in  memory  of  the  husband  she  so  much  loved. 

Can  one  come  in  contact  with  such  a  life  with- 
out feeling  its  blessed  radiancies  of  courage, 
energy,  triumph  over  unpleasant  circumstances, 
cheerful  doing  of  disagreeable  work,  and  the  power 
of  love  to  sweeten  all  things?  To  know  this 
woman  is  to  be  helped,  strengthened,  and  blessed. 
The  bravery  of  such  heroines  far  surpasses  that  of 
much  lauded  military  and  naval  heroes,  and  a  few 
such  women  are  worth  more  to  the  race,  in  my 
judgment,  than  all  the  Napoleons,  Pompeys, 
Caesars,  and  Nelsons  that  ever  lived. 

Certain  men  impress  you  with  their  calm  self- 
reliance.  They  are  not  disturbed  by  precedents 
or  adverse  judgments.  They  do  what  they  deem 
to  be  right  and  refuse  to  be  swerved  from  the  path 
they  have  laid  out  for  themselves.  Ruskin  radi- 
ates this  influence,  so  do  Carlyle  and  Browning. 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

Every  man  who  has  dared  to  make  innovations, 
deviate  from  the  "  ways  of  the  old,"  has  had  to  be 
self-reliant.  Every  reformer  of  every  age  and  in 
every  field  has  had  no  other  staff  to  lean  upon 
than  the  assurance  of  his  own  soul.  Galileo  in 
his  astronomical  deductions;  Savonarola  in  his 
criticisms  of  the  existing  political  conditions; 
Luther  in  his  fulminations  against  the  evils  of  the 
church ;  Cromwell  in  his  stand  against  the  doctrine 
of  the  "  divine  right  of  kings  " ;  Jefferson,  Wash- 
ington, and  the  whole  of  our  fathers,  who,  accord- 
ing to  English  law,  were  rebels  and  revolutionists, 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  Lincoln  in  his 
war  measures  and  Emancipation  Proclamation  — 
all  these  and  a  thousand  others  radiated  such  self- 
reliance  upon  the  principles  they  enunciated  and 
advocated  as  to  convince  their  followers. 

Every  political  party  based  upon  real  principles 
(rather  than  upon  a  desire  for  spoils),  is  organized 
as  the  result  of  the  radiation  of  those  principles 
held  in  the  self-reliant  hearts  of  a  few  men.  Every 
school  of  thought,  in  philosophy,  theology,  medi- 
cine, law,  ethics,  or  political  economy,  is  based 
upon  the  radiation  of  ideas  from  self-reliant  men. 

Yet  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  this 
quality  and  that  of  self-conceit.  When  Carlyle 
said  of  the  grammarian  who  criticised  his  gram- 
mar, "  Why,  mon,  I'd  have  ye  ken  that  I  mak' 
language  for  such  men  as  ye  to  mak'  their  gram- 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

mar  books  from,"  he  stated  a  fact.  He  was  self- 
reliant,  but  not  conceited.  So  with  Ruskin,  when, 
in  response  to  my  question  as  to  what  literature  I 
should  read  to  cultivate  a  pure  style  of  English, 
after  commenting  on  the  worth  of  several  masters, 
concluded  somewhat  as  follows :  "  And  there  are 
those  who  say  you  should  read  what  I  have  written, 
and  I  agree  with  them,  for  I  believe  I  have  written 
more  carefully  than  most  men."  That  was  criti- 
cal self-judgment,  not  self-conceit.  Still  we  are 
all  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  conceit  of  igno- 
rance, the  assumption  of  men  and  women  who  do 
not  know  the  mere  alphabet  of  the  subjects  they 
profess  to  be  experts  on.  Recently,  on  our  sleep- 
ing car,  when  a  few  people  got  together  to  sing, 
one  of  the  passengers,  with  a  self-conceit  that  was 
as  ludicrous  as  it  was  ignorant,  spoke  of  the  bari- 
tone voice  of  one  of  the  women  and  discoursed 
learnedly  upon  the  bass  of  the  man  who  was  sing- 
ing tenor. 

We  have  a  writer  in  California  who  knows  so 
well  that  he  knows,  that  some  of  us  think  he  knows 
"  by  the  grace  of  God,"  without  study  or  effort. 
His  whole  radiancy  is  one  of  cocksure  self-conceit. 

Who  has  not  felt  the  radiancy  of  the  miserliness 
of  some  men  and  women!  Those  who  would 
"  squeeze  the  eagle  on  a  penny  until  the  poor  bird 
screams." 

In  his  Tom  Brown  at  Rugby,  Hughes  shows 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

that  Arnold  always  radiated  his  full  appreciation 
of  all  the  good  in  all  the  boys  under  his  care. 
Maud  Ballington  Booth  is  a  wonderful  illustration 
of  training  to  perceive  the  good  radiancies  in  men 
and  women  in  whom  most  others  can  see  and  feel 
only  evil. 

Is  not  this  a  quality  of  soul  to  be  highly  desired? 
How  beautiful,  how  helpful,  how  comforting  to 
others  long  used  to  feeling  that  only  the  evil  of 
them  is  radiated  to  others,  to  feel  the  sympathy 
of  a  large-hearted,  pure,  beautiful  soul  which  has 
responded  to  the  weak  radiancies  of  the  good  that 
struggles  for  life  within. 

For,  just  as  I  have  shown  elsewhere  that  we 
must  be  alert  to  receive  the  radiancies  of  animate 
and  inanimate  nature,  so  must  we  be  receptive  to 
that  which  our  fellow  beings  radiate.  We  should 
train  ourselves  in  receptiveness  to  that  which  is 
good.  All  prejudice,  narrowness,  conceit,  over 
self-confidence,  cocksureness,  tend  to  ward  off  the 
good  radiancies  of  others.  There  are  odors  so 
subtle  that  the  olfactory  nerves  of  most  people 
are  incapable  of  recognizing  them.  There  are 
notes  so  refined  that  ordinary  ears  cannot  hear 
them,  and  we  are  all  familiar  with  the  fact  that 
there  are  infinite  depths  of  space  that  the  largest 
telescopes  fail  to  penetrate.  The  expert  violinist 
cherishes  his  sense  of  touch  that  he  may  not  vitiate 
his  playing,  and  the  engraver,  the  watchmaker,  and 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

the  workers  in  a  score  and  one  other  trades  culti- 
vate and  preserve  high  sensitiveness  of  touch  in 
order  that  they  may  become  more  expert.  The 
piano  tuner's  ear  recognizes  variations  in  the  vi- 
brations of  the  strings  he  is  tuning  that  most  of 
us  fail  to  appreciate,  and  the  ear  of  a  Theodore 
Thomas,  Carl  Muck,  Charles  Halle,  or  any  other 
masterly  conductor,  recognizes  fine  shades  of  ex- 
pression, harmony,  and  tastefulness  in  the  playing 
of  an  orchestra  that  but  few  can  appreciate. 
Browning  in  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra  speaks  of  things  that 
God  takes  note  of  in  measuring  the  man's  account 
that  men  ignore : 

All  instincts  immature, 
All  purposes  unsure; 
Thoughts  hardly  to  be  packed 
Into  a  narrow  act. 
All  I  could  never  be, 
All  men  ignored  in  me, 
This  I  was  worth  to  God. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  discern  these  "  instincts 
immature,"  these  "  facts  that  break  through  lan- 
guage and  escape,"  but  we  can  assuredly  discipline 
our  minds  and  souls  to  see,  hear,  feel,  and  touch 
many  beautiful  things  in  our  fellows  which  we  too 
often  ignore. 

Reader,  what  are  you  radiating?  I  cannot  an- 
swer that  question.  Your  friends  and  your  ene- 
mies may  tell  in  part.  You  alone  can  tell  all. 


VARIED     RADIANCIES 

Sit  down  some  day,  many  days,  and  study  your- 
self. Weigh  yourself.  See  how  much  good  you 
are  doing,  how  much  evil.  Write  out  a  balance 
sheet.  It  will  help  you  in  your  efforts  to  know 
what  you  most  need  to  seek  to  radiate  in  future, 
and  what  to  avoid  radiating. 

You  surely  do  not  want  to  radiate  evil. 

You  surely  want  to  radiate  only  good. 

Is  it  not  better  consciously  to  radiate  that 
which  you  wish  than  unconsciously  (or  thought- 
lessly) to  radiate  that  which  you  do  not  wish? 

As,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  we  radiate 
that  which  is  within  us,  whether  good  or  evil, 
should  we  not  aim  consciously  to  radiate  the  best 
of  which  we  are  capable,  and  thus  evidence  that 
we  are  striving  to  overcome  all  the  evil  that  may 
be  within  us? 


CHAPTER  V 

RADIANCIES   OF    INDIVIDUALITY 

1  WANT  to  radiate  individuality.  I  want  to 
be  myself  and  none  other.  If  I  see  in  others 
things  to  emulate,  things  that  will  more  fully  make 
me  what  I  want  and  ought  to  be,  then  emulation 
becomes  a  j  oyful  duty  —  the  something  in  another 
becomes  part  of  myself  through  my  desire,  my 
emulation,  my  longing  to  attain.  Hence  in  the 
right  seeking  to  be  myself  I  seek  also  to  be  like  all 
the  good  in  others  which  appeals  to  me.  Herein 
is  no  destruction  of  my  individuality.  It  is  a 
perfecting  of  it.  I  take  what  is  my  own,  no  mat- 
ter where  or  how  I  find  it. 

It  is  so  well  known  as  to  be  trite  that  men  and 
women  are  mere  sheep.  We  follow  our  leaders. 
We  are  anything  but  individual.  In  religion,  in 
medicine,  in  law,  in  speech,  in  dress,  in  amuse- 
ments, in  architecture,  in  literature,  in  food,  in 
everything,  custom  and  fashion  dominate  us. 

I  would  radiate  a  healthy  resistance  to  the  dic- 
tates of  fashion.  Why  should  fashion  ride  rough- 
shod over  the  wisdom  of  men  and  women?  The 
hoop-skirt,  the  stove-pipe  collar  and  hat,  the 


INDIVIDUALITY 

camel's  hump  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago  that 
the  ladies  wore  as  an  extra  adornment,  the 
chignon,  and  a  thousand  and  one  other  foolish 
things  that  once  domineeringly  dared  us  to  defy 
them  have  disappeared.  Why  should  we  ever  have 
yielded  to  them?  What  is  fashion,  anyhow?  She 
is  a  fickle  damsel,  generally  proud  of  her  money, 
whose  good  looks  are  often  the  result  of  powder 
and  paint  and  chalk  and  rouge  instead  of  good 
health,  vigor,  and  love.  She  is  a  mere  flirt,  car- 
ried away  for  a  few  hours  with  anything  as  a  whim 
to  pass  away  the  time ;  without  heart,  feeling,  sen- 
sibility, brain,  or  knowledge.  Her  fads  are  more 
likely  to  be  wrong  than  right,  and  when  right  are 
generally  the  result  of  a  lapse  into  sensibility  by 
relinquishing  any  pretense  at  thought  into  the 
hands  of  some  one  who  can  think  for  her.  Fash- 
ion, a  heartless,  conscienceless,  soulless  jade  whose 
friendship  and  favor  are  a  curse,  whose  flatteries 
are  hollow,  insincere,  and  corrupting,  and  whose 
only  use  for  any  one  or  anything  lasts  merely  so 
long  as  her  own  selfish  pleasures  are  attained  or 
desire  for  novelty  satisfied. 

Why  let  fashion  dictate  what  we  shall  wear? 
Radiate  your  distrust  of  its  judgment.  Radiate 
your  refusal  to  submit  to  its  dictates.  Radiate 
your  full  and  calm  determination,  without  argu- 
ment, to  live  in  your  own  way.  If  a  certain 
"  style  "  of  dress,  which  is  structural,  honest,  neat, 

39 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

is  suited  to  you  to-day,  it  is  suited  to  you  to-mor- 
row and  for  all  time.  Be  yourself  and  wear  that 
style  regardless  of  the  fluctuations  of  fashion. 
Why  should  fashion  say  that  a  man's  overcoat 
this  year  shall  fit  him  tightly  and  keep  him  warm, 
and  next  year  fit  him  loosely  and  send  him  into 
the  cold,  through  a  storm,  shivering  and  chilled? 
What  sense,  what  manliness,  what  dignity,  is  there 
in  allowing  a  "  fashion-designer  "  to  thus  have  the 
opportunity  of  ruining  our  health?  Let  us  radi- 
ate our  positive  repudiation  of  such  insane  follies, 
of  such  sins  against  our  bodies,  and  in  our  dress, 
our  food,  our  social  customs,  be  ourselves  in  a 
kindly,  unselfish,  unobtrusive  manner. 

Wherever  fashion  dictates  in  matters  of  dress, 
of  personal  custom,  there  you  find  at  once  a  re- 
stricted and  "  provincial  "  people.  For  fashion 
compels  adherence  to  her  silly  commands,  hence 
picturesque  individuality  disappears.  A  few 
years  ago  the  clever  editor  of  the  New  York  Jour- 
nal wrote  an  editorial  against  men's  wearing 
whiskers.  One  part  of  his  argument  was  that  the 
hairs  were  carriers  of  disease-germs,  and  that, 
therefore,  a  man  with  whiskers  was  dangerous  and 
to  be  shunned.  Thousands  of  the  poor  people  of 
New  York  read  and  believed  this  man's  preposter- 
ous screed,  and  were  thus  made  unhappy  and  miser- 
able, and  by  mental  suggestion  rendered  more 
liable  to  the  attacks  of  disease  than  they  would 

40 


INDIVIDUALITY 

have  been  had  these  foolish  words  never  been 
penned. 

It  was  fashion  —  not  a  care  for  health  —  that 
dictated  those  words.  We  Americans  so  love  the 
intellectual  conversation  and  edifying  monologues 
of  our  barbers  that  we  allow  them  to  dictate  to  us 
whether  we  shall  have  hair  on  our  cheeks  or  not, 
whether  we  shall  have  our  necks  shaved,  and  how 
much  and  whose  "  restorer  "  we  shall  put  upon  our 
hair. 

I  use  the  barber  here  merely  as  a  type.  He  by 
no  means  stands  alone. 

I  am  determined  to  radiate  a  quiet  but  force- 
ful protest  against  having  my  life  or  that  of  my 
fellows  dictated  to,  in  purely  personal  matters,  by 
any  one,  whether  he  be  priest,  doctor,  lawyer,  bar- 
ber, or  editor.  Let  each  live  his  own  life,  within 
reasonable  bounds,  and  let  each  expect  every  other 
to  be  himself.  In  nature  there  are  no  two  things 
alike,  yet  fashion  would  have  us  all  alike;  and,  it 
might  be  added,  therefore,  all  foolish. 

In  seeking  for  the  expression  of  yourself  do  not 
for  one  moment  think  it  is  necessary  for  you  to 
think  out  something  new,  original,  startling,  or 
strange.  That  is  not  the  idea  at  all.  Your  life 
may  be  yours  —  purely  individualistic,  and  yet 
everything  you  do  and  say  and  think  and  feel  be 
as  old  as  the  hills.  The  idea  is  this.  No  matter 
where  you  get  the  thoughts  from  that  incite  you 

41 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

to  action,  make  them  your  own;  let  them  become 
a  part  of  yourself,  then  your  life  will  be  yours  in- 
deed ;  an  expression  of  your  own  soul,  and  not  that 
imitation  of  another  that  Emerson  so  truthfully 
says  is  suicide. 

But  in  the  radiating  of  my  own  individuality  I 
must  be  so  filled  with  the  true  spirit  of  individual- 
ity that  I  shall  in  no  way  interfere  with  that  of 
others.  Too  often  men  and  women  in  seeking  to 
be  "  individual "  have  seriously  trespassed  upon 
the  rights,  the  joys,  the  comforts  of  others.  This 
is  a  fundamental  error.  The  first  law  of  individ- 
ualism is  this :  "  What  I  claim  for  myself  I 
thereby  freely  accord  to  all  others."  Note  the 
word  "  thereby."  In  the  very  fact  and  act  of 
claiming  I  thereby  freely  recognize  to  the  utmost 
the  right  of  every  one  else  to  claim  the  same  right. 
There  is  no  selfishness  in  individualism;  there  are 
no  "  special "  privileges  in  its  exercise.  It  is  the 
habit  of  a  few  to  believe  that  they  should  have 
"  special  "  privileges  accorded  them.  True  indi- 
vidualism recognizes  no  such  special  rights.  In 
taking  we  give.  In  claiming  we  avow  the  right  of 
others  to  claim. 

The  trouble  with  mankind  is  that  it  has  not 
learned  that  souls  are  individuals ;  that  the  diver- 
sities seen  between  plants,  the  differences  that  exist 
even  between  blades  of  grass,  so  that  there  are  no 
two  blades  exactly  alike,  is  but  indicative  of  the 

42 


INDIVIDUALITY 

individualism  of  the  human  soul.  There  is  a  fam- 
ily likeness,  for  we  are  all  created  in  God's  image, 
but  God  is  so  large,  so  great,  so  diverse,  in  Him- 
self, that  each  soul  is  a  different  image.  Hence 
each  soul  must  be  itself  and  not  another.  Each 
soul  must  develop  in  its  own  lines  and  not  in  those 
of  others. 

The  great  errors  have  come  in  when  men  have 
said :  "  I  have  found  the  way  of  life ;  it  is  the 
only  way;  all  men,  therefore,  must  walk  herein." 
It  is  a  very  human  error,  yet  error  it  certainly  is. 
That  Roman  Catholicism  is  "  the  way  "  for  many 
human  souls  no  one  can  question,  but  that  it  is 
"  the  only  way  for  all  human  souls  "  many  millions 
have  questioned  and  doubtless  for  ever  will  ques- 
tion. Every  church,  every  creed,  every  philoso- 
phy has  those  for  whom  it  is  "  the  way,"  for  the 
time  being  at  least,  and  it  is  well  that  they  walk 
therein.  But  in  thought  religion,  as  in  everything 
else,  progress  is  the  law  of  life,  not  standing  still. 
In  religious  thought,  as  in  all  life,  let  us  say  with 
our  whole  souls : 

So  welcome  each  rebuff 

That  turns  earth's  smoothness  rough, 

Each  sting  that  bids  not  sit,  nor  stand,  but  go. 

Onward,  forward,  is  the  cry.  The  law  of  evolu- 
tion has  demonstrated  that  there  must  ever  be  the 
disturbance  of  the  equilibrium  on  the  lower  plane 
in  order  that  there  may  be  the  readjustment  upon 

43 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

the  higher.  Every  soul  that  sits  still  and  rests 
content  is  retrogressing.  There  must  ever  be  a 
godly  discontent  —  a  reaching  out,  a  following 
after,  as  Paul  puts  it,  if  that  we  may  apprehend  — 
take  hold  of  —  the  things  for  which  Christ  Jesus 
has  taken  hold  of  us. 

Every  soul-field  must  be  plowed  and  harrowed 
after  each  harvest.  Crops  do  not  volunteer  very 
often,  and  a  volunteer  crop  is  never  so  good  as  one 
that  is  carefully  prepared  for ;  ground  thoroughly 
nourished,  plowed,  drained,  harrowed,  rolled, 
seeded  with  the  best  of  seed,  watered,  weeded,  and 
properly  harvested.  Is  a  soul's  harvest  to  be  left 
to  chance,  while  farmers  take  anxious  thought  for 
field-harvests,  where  only  a  few  dollars'  worth  of 
produce  are  the  outcome?  Let  us  be  wise  for  our 
own  souls. 

I  can  only  radiate  individuality  when  I  am  indi- 
vidualistic. 

Is  there  no  infallible,  certain,  sure  way  of  doing 
things  ?  Of  learning  things  ? 

I  know  not  what  others  have  found,  I  only  know 
for  myself  that  there  is  but  one  way,  and  that  is 
the  way  of  personal  test  and  experience. 

Cardinal  Newman,  one  of  the  greatest,  simplest, 
purest,  and  sweetest  minds  of  the  last  century,  had 
to  put  his  life's  guidance  into  the  hands  of  the 
church  —  the  Mother  Church,  to  him  —  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  His  piteous  cry  has 
44 


INDIVIDUALITY 

voiced  the  cry  of  millions  of  human  souls  since; 
souls  groping  in  the  dark,  seeking  for  light,  de- 
siring above  all  to  know. 

Lead,  kindly  light,  amid  th'  encircling  gloom, 

Lead  Thou  me  on; 
The  night  is  dark,  and  I  am  far  from  home, 

Lead  Thou  me  on. 

Keep  Thou  my  feet;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene;  one  step  enough   for  me. 

It  was  his  desire  to  know  that  led  him  to  write 
the  hymn. 

What  a  profound  truth  Emerson  said  when  he 
wrote :  "  A  man  should  learn  to  detect  and  watch 
that  gleam  of  light  which  flashes  across  his  mind 
from  within,  more  than  the  luster  of  the  firmament 
of  bards  and  sages.  Yet  he  dismisses  without 
notice  his  thought,  because  it  is  his." 

The  italics  are  mine.  Why  will  men  rely  more 
upon  written  words  than  upon  the  flashes  of  illu- 
minated truth  that  come  to  their  own  souls  ?  God 
and  His  truth  are  as  much  for  me  as  for  any  man. 
There  is  as  much  truth,  wisdom,  knowledge  in  the 
universe  for  me  as  for  all  the  wise  and  learned  of  all 
the  ages.  It  is  outside  of  me,  waiting  to  come  in, 
anxious  to  come  in  if  I  will  allow  it  to  do  so,  and 
yet  I  allow  a  Board  of  Bishops,  a  College  of  Medi- 
cine, a  Bench  of  Judges  to  dictate  to  me  as  to  what 
of  God  and  His  truth  I  shall  receive.  While  it  is 
my  duty  and  privilege  to  study  reverently  all  which 

45 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

these  people  would  present  to  me  as  the  truth,  I 
want  to  radiate  with  all  the  power  of  my  nature  my 
belief  that  every  soul  must  find  truth  for  itself. 
There  is  no  patent  truth  extractor  that  suits  every 
human  need.  Conventional  thought  which  pro- 
fesses to  express  "  the  truth "  is  merely  man's 
sign-board  to  point  out  to  you  the  way  some  one 
else  has  found  truth.  Too  often,  alas,  it  is  used 
as  a  restricting  bond  to  tell  you  beyond  which 
bounds  you  must  not  go.  Let  no  man  bind  yuu. 
God  is  over  all  and  in  all.  His  truth  is  everywhere. 
Seek  in  spirit  and  m  truth  and  you  will  find, —  for 
yourself.  But  be  careful,  when  you  have  found  for 
yourself,  that  you  do  not  make  the  common  mis- 
take of  most  human  beings,  and  endeavor  to  force 
your  truth,  appropriate  and  suitable  for  you,  down 
the  mental  and  spiritual  throats  of  every  one  else 
as  the  appropriate  and  suitable  truth  for  them. 
Leave  to  every  other  soul  the  right,  the  privilege, 
the  joy,  the  necessity  of  finding  truth  for  himself, 
herself.  Tell  what  you  have  found,  if  you  like,  but 
tell  it  reverently,  as  a  gift  to  you,  not  as  a  divine 
light  for  every  one  else. 

This,  therefore,  is  the  individuality  I  would 
radiate.  I  would  have  the  Hindoo,  the  Hottentot, 
the  Hopi,  the  Roman  Catholic,  the  Mormon,  the 
Chinaman,  the  Methodist  all  feel  that  I  revere  and 
respect  their  individuality  even  as  I  revere  and  re- 
spect my  own.  But,  further  —  and  here  is  the  im- 


INDIVIDUALITY 

portant  thing  —  I  would  so  radiate  that  they  will 
respect  and  revere  mine  as  I  respect  theirs.  When 
the  Methodist  says  either  in  words  or  acts,  "  I  am 
a  Methodist  and  therefore  you  should  be  one,"  he 
violates  the  law  of  individuality  as  of  moral  free- 
dom. So  with  the  Hopi,  the  Catholic,  the  Hindoo. 

I  would  have  it  clear,  therefore,  that  individual- 
ism is  not  "  toleration."  What  is  there  in  my 
exercise  of  a  God-given  right  and  duty  to  be  my- 
self that  should  call  for  the  assumption  of  my  fel- 
low being  that  HE  will  "  tolerate  "  these  rights  ? 
Therefore,  I  do  not  want  to  be  "  tolerant  "  to  my 
fellows.  I  would  radiate  the  individualism  which 
goes  ahead  and  thinks  and  acts  according  to  the 
dictates  of  personal  conscience.  It  is  all  very  well 
to  say  that  we  should  learn  from  the  combined  wis- 
dom of  the  ages.  I  am  not  so  sure  of  much  of  it, 
after  all !  I  accept  the  astronomy  of  to-day,  but 
by  no  means  believe  our  astronomers  have  said  the 
last  word,  any  more  than  I  believe  that  the  great 
and  humble  Newton  said  the  last  word  when  he 
declared  that  man  had  gained  the  summit  in  the  art 
of  telescope  making.  Just  four  years  after  he 
made  that  foolish  assertion  John  Dolland  invented 
the  achromatic  telescope  which  has  revolutionized 
the  astronomical  science  of  the  world  by  adding 
infinitely  to  the  astronomer's  seeing  power. 

Nothing  in  human  life  is  yet  complete.  There 
is  no  absolute  truth  carried  out  to  its  ultimate. 

47 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

When  numbers  were  first  discovered  our  forefathers 
thought  they  had  gone  as  far  as  it  was  possible,  in 
discovering  that  two  and  two  make  four.  Then 
geometry  was  discovered  and  Euclid  changed  the 
arithmetic  of  the  world,  and  the  teachers  said  we 
had  gone  as  far  as  it  was  possible.  Then  algebra 
was  discovered  and  the  world  found  out  the  teachers 
were  wrong  in  limiting  the  science  of  arithmetic. 
Yet  foolish  people  would  not  learn  from  the  folly 
of  the  past.  They  wisely  and  sagely  declared  that 
now,  at  last,  the  ultimate  had  been  reached.  But 
Newton  comes  along  and  with  his  "  Calculus " 
opens  up  new  worlds  in  arithmetical  science. 
NOW  we  have  got  it  all,  declares  the  teacher  of 
•fixed  truth.  Yet  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord,  one 
thousand  nineteen  hundred  and  six,  there  comes  a 
Japanese,  and  in  his  Handbook  of  Chess  demon- 
strates as  great  an  advance  in  arithmetical  science 
as  Newton  did  in  his  Calculus.  We  are  yet  chil- 
dren. We  shall  ever  be  learning  so  long  as  we  are 
human.  The  knowledge  we  have  so  far  gained  is 
vast,  apparently,  when  compared  with  the  knowl- 
edge held  in  the  Dark  Ages,  but,  as  compared  with 
what  there  is  yet  stored  away  for  us  to  know,  I 
verily  believe  it  is  so  insignificant,  so  slight,  so 
small,  so  puny,  so  infinitesimal,  as  to  excite  the  pity 
and  the  contempt  of  any  superior  beings  who  look 
down  upon  us  and  see  us  strutting  in  our  doctor's 
mortar-boards  and  gowns  in  our  assumed  wisdom. 

48 


INDIVIDUALITY 

God  forbid  that  any  arrogant  pretension  of  mine 
should  ever  prevent  one  truth  from  entering  a  hu- 
man soul.  I  want  to  radiate  my  acceptance  of  all 
there  is,  but  my  expectance  for  the  large  more  that 
is  yet  to  come. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CONFLICTING    RADIANCIES 

1  HERE  are  few,  if  any,  human  beings  in  the 
world  who  radiate  only  evil,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
only  good.  Man  is  a  human  being,  not  divine. 
Humanity  implies  a  lower  stage  than  divinity,  and 
whether  what  we  call  evil  be  but  manifestations  of 
the  imperfect  and  incomplete,  or  deliberate  wrong 
choice  for  which  one  is  personally  responsible,  we 
are  all  compelled  to  admit  that  there  are  few  people 
with  whom  we  meet  who  radiate  toward  us  and  all 
others  only  that  which  is  good.  Sometimes  these 
"  not  good  "  radiancies  have  no  immoral  intent  in 
them,  though  they  produce  bad  results. 

For  instance,  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  many 
a  man  is  driven  to  drunkenness  by  an  unhappy 
home  life,  yet  probably  no  member  of  the  house- 
hold has  the  deliberate  intention  of  producing  such 
a  result.  It  may  be  that  he  is  equally  to  blame  for 
the  conditions  in  his  home,  for  all  are  imperfect, 
yet  if  the  appetite  for  drink  has  been  formed,  or 
environment  supplies  great  temptation,  the  com- 
plaints, taunts,  or  anger  of  his  unhappy  family  do 
not  increase  his  powers  of  resistance,  but  rather 

50 


CONFLICTING     RADIANCIES 

weaken  them.  There  are  men,  also,  who  frankly 
confess  to  a  reckless  impulse  to  do  wrong  when- 
ever they  come  under  any  very  depressing  influence. 
It  may  be  true  that  some  peculiarity  of  tempera- 
ment renders  them  liable  to  be  thrown  out  of  mental 
balance.  There  may  be  inherent  weakness,  or 
hereditary  tendency,  which  renders  them  unusually 
susceptible  to  depressing  radiancies,  but  the  results 
are  just  as  deplorable. 

Doubtless  many  a  woman,  too,  warped  and 
twisted  out  of  normal  conditions  by  disappoint- 
ment, ill-treatment,  and  mental  suffering,  becomes  a 
tongue-lasher,  goes  to  the  bad,  or  commits  suicide, 
when  different  influences  and  environment  would 
have  saved  her  from  such  consequences.  There 
may  not  seem  to  be  any  immorality  in  the  nagging 
of  a  husband,  or  a  wife,  or  a  parent,  yet  the  per- 
sistent nagging  of  some  person,  whose  intent  was 
only  good,  has  produced  direful  effects  in  various 
ways. 

These  and  a  thousand  other  tendencies  of  the 
human  being  point  to  our  present  imperfection  or 
subjugation  to  error,  out  of  which  we  must  rise. 

/  know  a  poet.  His  words  have  thrilled  mil- 
lions to  a  nobler  and  better  life.  His  pen  has 
never  incited  to  a  mean  or  ignoble  thought  or 
action ;  it  has  always  written  high  and  noble  truth 
—  peace,  good  will  to  men,  the  dignity  of  labor, 
the  joy  of  helping,  the  blessing  of  purity,  the  never- 

51 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

failing  help  of  God  —  and  yet  in  his  personal  life 
he  sometimes  radiates  the  degradation  of  drunken- 
ness and  the  awfulness  of  impurity. 

I  know  a  writer.  He  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
men  of  his  State.  His  knowledge  is  profound. 
He  devotes  more  time,  unselfishly,  to  the  good  of 
his  adopted  city  and  State  than  any  other  man  I 
know.  His  work  is  untiring  in  its  fervid  zeal  for 
the  preservation  of  historic  landmarks  that  with- 
out his  efforts  would  possibly  have  disappeared; 
and  also  for  a  museum  for  the  accumulation  of  evi- 
dences of  past  civilization.  Yet  he  radiates  a  vin- 
dictive jealousy  and  fierce  hatred  of  those  whom 
he  does  not  like  that  makes  even  his  friends  afraid 
of  him  and  fearful  lest  they  incur  his  anger. 

Shelley,  Byron,  Poe,  Bret  Harte,  Leigh  Hunt, 
Landor  —  and  thousands  of  others,  including  the 
Psalmist  David,  the  Hebrew  king  whom  God  loved 
—  radiated  grand,  sublime,  divine  truths,  yet  they 
also  radiated  weakness  and  moral  wrong. 

What  should  be  our  mental  attitude  toward 
those  who  give  such  conflicting  radiancies?  Shall 
we  ignore  the  evil  and  see  only  the  good?  How 
can  we  ?  How  dare  we  ? 

Shall  we  ignore  the  good  and  see  only  the  evil? 

Again  I  ask,  How  can  we  ?     How  dare  we  ? 

There  are  good  people,  I  know,  who  do  both  of 
these,  to  me,  impossible  things.  I  want  to  do 
neither.  I  will  do  neither  if  I  can  possibly  help 


CONFLICTING     RADIANCIES 

it.  I  will  not  stultify  my  own  sense  of  right  and 
wrong  by  ignoring  what  I  deem  to  be  wrong  in 
another.  I  will  reprobate  it,  for  myself,  and 
earnestly  strive  to  be  kept  free  from  it,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  I  will  see  the  good  in  all  its  beauty  and 
power  and  will  glorify  it  and  accept  it,  and  thank 
God  that  so  much  good  does  exist. 

The  whole  question  thus  resolves  itself  to  me: 
Shall  I  refuse  to  accept  the  good  of  certain  men 
because  they  do  many  evil  things?  Shall  I  refuse 
to  accept  good  except  from  those  who  are  perfect? 
If  so,  from  whom  shall  I  gain  good?  From  you, 
reader?  Are  you  perfect?  If  you  take  that  posi- 
tion you  had  better  drop  this  book,  here  and  now, 
for  you  cannot  receive  good  from  me,  for  too  sadly 
do  I  know  that  neither  the  book  nor  its  writer  is 
perfect.  Joaquin  Miller  perfectly  expresses  this 
thought  in  the  introductory  lines  to  his  poem  on 
Byron : 

In  men  whom  men  condemn  as  ill, 

I  find  so  much  of  goodness  still, 

In  men  whom  men  account  divine, 

I  find  so  much  of  sin  and  blot, 

I  hesitate  to  draw  the  line  between  the  two, 

Where  God  has  not! 

Let  us  be  fearless,  honest,  just,  frank.  Too 
often  we  condemn  people  who  have  as  much  good 
as  evil  in  them  —  or  more  —  because  we  are  afraid 
if  we  do  not  condemn  the  evil  that  they  do,  openly 

S3 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

and  loudly,  people  will  think  we  tolerate  evil  be- 
cause we  ourselves  are  evil.  Hawthorne  wrote  his 
Scarlet  Letter  to  teach  us  different.  The  harsh, 
stern,  vindictively  pure  and  good  people  —  in  my 
humble  judgment  —  have  many  and  grave  sins  to 
answer  for  as  well  as  those  whom  they  so  merci- 
lessly condemn.  I  condemn  all  that  which  appears 
evil  to  me,  and  I  seek  to  avoid  it,  but  I  condemn  no 
man,  no  woman.  That  is  not  my  privilege,  my 
work.  Judgment  belongs  to  God  who  knows  all 
circumstances  and  understands  all  hearts.  I  know 
and  understand  very  little,  for  I  am  very  short- 
sighted and  ignorant.  How  can  any  of  us  look 
with  so  severe  an  eye  upon  the  sins  of  our  brothers 
and  sisters  when  we,  too,  are  imperfect,  ignorant, 
prone  to  wrong.  John  Wesley  taught  the  people 
of  his  denomination  very  differently,  though  they 
haven't  yet  learned  the  lesson.  One  of  his  hymns 

says: 

To  hate  sin  with   all  my  heart 
And  yet  the  sinner  love. 

And  the  Lord  of  the  whole  Christian  Church 
spoke  in  no  uncertain  terms  when  He  said,  "  Judge 
Not,"  and  in  His  action  to  those  who  brought  the 
adulterous  woman  to  Him  clearly  showed  us  what 
our  attitude  should  be.  Joaquin  Miller  wrote  a 
much-needed  lesson  for  this  age,  this  civilization, 
this  people  (the  puritanic  American  and  Anglo- 
Saxon),  when  he  took  this  incident  in  Christ's  life 

54 


CONFLICTING    RADIANCIES 

and  made  it  the  theme  of  his  poem,  Charity. 
May  its  high  and  sympathetic  truths  sink  deep, 
so  that  henceforth  you  will  be  able  to  stand  side 
by  side  with  the  Divine  in  dealing  with  sinful  men 
and  women,  and  while  condemning  the  sin  be  able  to 
say :  "  Go,  and  sin  no  more."  And,  remember, 
it  is  not  for  you  to  say  which  sin  is  most  sinful  in 
God's  sight.  You  may  know  which  is  of  greater 
horror  to  yourself,  but  it  may  be  that  the  "  darling 
sin  "  you  cherish  in  secret,  or  the  "  weakness  "  of 
your  life  may  be  regarded  by  the  Divine  as  of  great 
culpability  as  well  as  the  "  horrible  sin  "  you  so 
much  deplore  and  feel  you  must  condemn  so  bit- 
terly in  another. 


55 


CHAPTER  VII 

RADIANCIES    OF    FEAR 

Jr  EAR  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  mankind.  It  is 
the  creator  of  evil,  for  many  people  sin  through 
fear.  It  is  the  maker  of  cowards  and  moral  weak- 
lings, the  foe  of  all  progress,  the  barrier  to  ad- 
vancement, physical,  mental,  spiritual.  He  who 
is  afraid  dares  not,  and  he  who  dares  not,  knows 
not,  feels  not,  enjoys  not.  The  fearful  do  not  live ; 
they  merely  exist,  in  bondage  to  a  terror  that  leaves 
them  neither  night  nor  day.  They  know  few  of 
the  delights  of  achievement,  for  they  are  afraid  to 
dare.  Fear  throttles  endeavor,  stifles  hope,  mur- 
ders aspiration.  It  is  a  hydra-headed  monster  of 
protean  forms.  It  is  a  liar  and  a  coward,  a  be- 
guiler  and  a  thief,  a  sneak  and  a  poltroon,  a  slan- 
derer and  a  cur.  It  comes  in  a  thousand  guises  — 
sometimes  as  caution,  then  as  tact,  again  as  con- 
sideration for  others,  but  ever  and  always  as  a 
deceiver  and  a  destroyer. 

If  there  is  one  thing  above  another  that  I  wish 
I  had  learned  in  earliest  youth,  and  I  wish  I  had 
known  enough  to  teach  my  children  in  their  earliest 
days,  it  is  perfect  fearlessness.  The  only  thing  I 

56 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

fear  to-day  is  fear.  To  go  through  life  afraid  of 
this  and  that  and  the  other,  is  to  take  away  all 
joy,  all  spontaneity,  all  freedom,  all  aspiration,  all 
endeavor. 

I  used  to  believe  and  teach  that  we  should  "  fear 
God."  But  the  word  "  fear  "  as  here  used  is  not 
the  abject,  groveling,  contemptible  feeling  that  so 
many  people  imagine  it  to  be.  God  has  made  us 
in  His  own  image.  He  wishes  us  to  stand  upright, 
and  greet  Him  as  filial  beings  should,  proud  and 
glad  to  come  to  Him  as  "  Our  Father." 

Fear  makes  us  whine  and  whimper  before  God, 
and  go  to  Him  in  the  same  spirit  of  dread  that 
leads  the  Indian  to  feel  he  must  always  be  propi- 
tiating the  powers  that  be.  If  he  does  not  pray 
and  sing  and  dance  and  smoke  the  good  powers 
will  be  offended,  and  will  injure  him,  and  the  evil 
powers  will  be  made  more  evil  and  do  him  more 
harm  than  they  otherwise  would.  Hence  month  in 
and  month  out,  because  of  fear,  he  seeks  by  his 
dances,  and  smokings,  and  songs,  and  prayers  to 
protect  himself  from  evil  by  soothing  their  pos- 
sible anger  and  quieting  their  fury  against  him. 

There  is  much  of  this  same  spirit  in  our  old- 
time  theology,  and  our  present-day  life.  We  are 
afraid  of  God.  God  doesn't  want  us  to  be  afraid. 
Every  man  should  therefore  stand  upright,  afraid 
of  neither  God,  man,  nor  devil.  God  is  no  tyrant 
to  be  turned  from  His  purposes  by  sycophantic 

57 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

worship,  or  by  "  much  speaking  "  and  importunity. 
He  is  a  reasonable  God,  a  loving  God,  a  just  God, 
a  merciful  God,  and  abject  fear  will  never  change 
His  plans  as  to  His  treatment  of  any  human  being. 

As  to  being  afraid  of  men,  why  should  one  man 
ever  be  afraid  of  another?  Let  us  stand  upright 
as  men  —  one  man  just  as  good  as  another  —  if  he 
is  as  goodt  and  if  he  isn't  as  good,  knowing  that  all 
the  potentialities  of  godhead  are  within  his  own 
soul.  We  are  gods,  says  Browning,  though- but  as 
yet  in  the  germ.  Let  us  fearlessly  develop  the 
germ,  or  give  it  opportunity  for  development. 

And  as  to  being  afraid  of  the  devil,  I  have  long 
since  learned  that  the  proper  way  to  deal  with  what 
I  suppose  to  be  the  devil  —  or  his  henchmen  —  is 
simply  to  straighten  up  my  back,  look  him  squarely 
in  the  eye,  and  definitely  and  positively  bid  him 
"  Go  to  hell !  "  Even  the  most  modest  and  refined 
of  preachers,  whether  of  the  new  or  old  type,  will 
agree  that  that  is  the  only  place  for  the  devil  and 
his  myrmidons. 

I  would  have  my  children,  myself,  and  the  world 
afraid  of  nothing  but  of  evil  —  and  by  evil  I  mean 
those  sins  that  I  myself  know  are  evil  —  selfishness, 
pride,  uncleanness,  as  well  as  the  sins  of  the  deca- 
logue. But  even  here  I  would  not  let  it  be  a  fear 
that  dreads  falling  into  these  sins.  I  would  not 
anticipate  or  expect  anything  of  the  kind.  Hence, 
in  one  sense  I  would  not  have  them  afraid  of  evil. 

58 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

Resist  evil  and  it  will  flee  from  you.  Harbor  it 
not,  do  not  dread  it,  but  resolve  to  slay  it  by  its 
opposite  good.  The  evil  is  null  if  you  live  its 
opposite.  There  is  no  need  for  an  unselfish  man  to 
fear  selfishness.  A  man  who  gives  freely  never 
need  fear  that  he  will  become  a  miser. 

Yet  people  go  through  life  afraid,  and  teach 
their  children  to  be  afraid,  and  thus  lose  nine-tenths 
of  the  love  and  joy  and  power  and  blessing  of 
life. 

Fear  holds  a  large  and  powerful  grip  upon  the 
human  race.  Scarce  one  woman  in  a  thousand  of 
the  so-called  civilized  portion  but  is  afraid  of 
child-birth  —  a  perfectly  natural  process  that 
should  be  attended  with  all  the  angels  of  Love  and 
Joy  and  Welcome,  instead  of  the  horrible  demons 
of  Fear.  From  the  time  of  birth  until  its  body 
falls  into  the  grave  the  mortal  is  taught  fear.  We 
pay  preachers,  teachers,  lawyers,  and  doctors,  and 
much  of  their  work  consists  of  fostering  our  fears. 
I  have  a  picture  before  my  mind's  eye  now  of  one 
of  the  noblest  and  best  women  that  ever  lived. 
Her  whole  life  was  a  self-sacrifice,  an  unselfish  de- 
votion to  others,  yet,  such  was  the  theology  that 
had  been  taught  to  her  that  she  was  constantly  in 
dread  lest  she  had  done  wrong,  she  was  ever  sitting 
on  the  stool  of  repentance,  and  life  was  a  gloomy, 
somber,  awful  thing  to  her,  because  of  her  "  dread 
of  an  angry  God." 

59 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Thousands  of  people  fear  death  because  they 
have  been  taught  that  when  they  die  they  may  "  go 
to  hell  "  for  sins  done  on  earth. 

A  mother  was  telling  me  only  a  few  days  ago  of 
the  perfect  fearlessness  of  her  boy  until  (when 
about  six  years  of  age)  he  went  to  a  Sunday 
school,  where  they  taught  him  their  ideas  of  the 
devil  and  hell  and  God's  method  of  punishing  sin. 
That  night  he  dared  not  go  to  bed  without  a  light 
and  woke  up  several  times  crying  that  he  was 
afraid  of  sinking  into  hell. 

Whatever  preachers  may  feel  it  to  be  their  duty 
to  teach  of  hell  and  God's  anger  to  grown  men  and 
women,  I  deem  it  monstrously  cruel  to  put  such 
fears  into  the  plastic  and  trustful  souls  of  the 
young. 

Teachers,  lawyers,  and  doctors  are  as  bad  as  the 
preachers.  We  must  avoid  "  night  air,"  and 
draughts,  and  getting  our  feet  wet,  and  not  eating 
enough,  and  eating  too  much.  We  must  not  eat 
this  and  that,  and  must  not  do  that  or  the  other. 
Fear  is  instilled  into  our  minds  all  along  the  path- 
way of  life  until  if  we  are  not  healthy  enough  to 
throw  it  away  and  live  our  own  fearless  life,  we 
are  weighted  down  by  the  burden  of  our  needless 
and  senseless  fears.  All  quack  doctors  work  on 
the  foolish  and  ignorant  fears  of  the  people,  or 
their  nostrums  would  never  sell  enough  to  pay  a 
thousandth  part  of  what  their  advertising  costs. 

60 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

Fear  is  the  club  that  scoundrels  use  to  beat  the 
ignorant  into  paying  tribute  to  them. 

I  do  not  believe  in  these  fears to  me  they  are 

all  bad,  and  nothing  but  bad.  I  would  banish 
every  one  of  them  from  the  human  heart. 

But,  says  an  objector,  you  surely  would  not  let 
your  child  go  and  handle  a  deadly  rattlesnake,  or 
send  your  growing  and  innocent  girl  into  the  com- 
pany of  expert  roues,  or  willfully  sleep  in  a  mias- 
mic  atmosphere,  or  inhale  the  poisonous  gases  of  a 
badly  cared-for  plumbing  system?  Of  course  not. 
But  neither  would  I  be  afraid  of  them.  There  is 
all  the  difference  in  the  world  between  knowledge  of 
danger,  and  fear  of  that  danger.  Let  a  child  be 
taught  definitely  and  positively  the  danger  of 
handling  a  rattlesnake,  but  do  not  fill  his  soul  with 
fear  of  it ;  impress  forcefully  and  strongly  the  wis- 
dom of  avoiding  evil  company  upon  your  daugh- 
ter, but  teach  her  to  be  absolutely  fearless  in  the 
presence  of  the  debauchee ;  seek  to  the  full  how  to 
avoid  all  miasma  and  deadly  plumbing,  but  be 
fearless  about  them.  Fear  is  the  product  of  ig- 
norance; fearlessness  of  knowledge.  If  my  child 
knows  all  the  harm  a  rattlesnake  can  do,  and  all 
the  power  it  possesses,  he  can  avoid  it  as  easily  as 
not.  Therefore  why  should  he  be  afraid?  The 
feminine  fears  of  mice,  rats,  spiders,  and  snakes  are 
evidences  either  of  ignorance,  or  of  a  developed 
hereditary  tendency  to  fear.  In  the  former  case 

61 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

the  fearful  one  should  be  trained  so  as  to  remove 
her  fear,  in  the  latter  she  should  resolutely  set  her 
will  to  work  to  overcome  it,  in  which  all  her  friends 
should  sympathetically  aid  her. 

Fear  has  ever  been  the  foe  of  progress.  Every 
advance  step  in  all  life  has  been  taken  by  him  only 
who  had  throttled  his  fears.  Fire  was  conquered 
for  the  human  race  by  the  man  who  dared  brave 
the  strange  and  weird  flames  that  grew  and  then 
disappeared.  Prometheus  —  the  fearless  —  is  the 
type  of  all  who  have  helped  the  race  to  progress. 
It  is  the  same  in  every  field  of  endeavor,  on  every 
plane  of  thought.  Galileo,  Newton,  Savonarola, 
the  barons  of  King  John's  time,  Cromwell,  Luther, 
Bacon,  Captain  Cook,  Washington,  Lincoln  are 
but  a  few  of  the  thousands  of  names  of  men  who 
have  dared,  who  have  bid  their  fears  depart,  and  in 
so  doing  have  advanced  the  human  race. 

Joaquin  Miller  in  his  grand  poem  Columbus 
clearly  shows  what  would  have  become  of  him  and 
the  discovery  of  the  new  world  had  he  let  the  fears 
of  the  mate  and  his  sailors  affect  him.  Read  it 
carefully  with  this  thought  in  view.  Indeed  it  is 
well  worth  memorizing  as  a  standing  lesson  against 
fear. 

COLUMBUS 

Behind  him  lay  the  gray  Azores, 

Behind  the  Gates  of  Hercules; 
Before  him  not  the  ghost  of  shores; 

Before  him  only  shoreless  seas. 

62 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

The  good  mate  said :  "  Now  must  we  pray, 

For  lo!  the  very  stars  are  gone. 
Brave  Admir'l,  speak;  what  shall  I  say?" 

"Why,  say:  '  Sail  on!  sail  on!  and  on!'" 

"  My  men  grow  mutinous  day  by  day ; 

My  men  grow  ghastly  wan  and  weak." 
The  stout  mate  thought  of  home;  a  spray 

Of  salt  wave  washed  his  swarthy  cheek. 
"What  shall  I  say,  brave  Admir'l,  say, 

If  we  sight  naught  but  seas  at  dawn?" 
"  Why,  you  shall  say  at  break  of  day : 
'  Sail  on !  sail  on !  sail  on !  and  on ! '  " 


They  sailed  and  sailed,  as  winds  might  blow, 

Until  at  last  the  blanched  mate  said: 
"Why,  now,  not  even  God  would  know 

Should  I  and  all  my  men  fall  dead. 
These  very  winds  forget  their  way, 

For  God  from  these  dread  seas  is  gone. 
Now  speak,  brave  Admir'l;  speak  and  say  " 

He  said:    "Sail  on!  sail  on!  and  on!" 

They  sailed.    They  sailed.    Then  spake  the  mate: 

"  This  mad  sea  shows  his  teeth  to-night. 
He  curls  his  lip,  he  lies  in  wait, 

With  lifted  teeth,  as  if  to  bite! 
Brave  Admir'l,  say  but  one  good  word: 

What  shall  we  do  when  hope  is  gone  ? " 
The  words  leapt  like  a  leaping  sword: 

"Sail  on!  sail  on!  sail  on!  and  on!" 

Then,  pale  and  worn,  he  kept  his  deck, 
And  peered  through  darkness.    Ah,  that  night 

Of  all  dark  nights!  and  then  a  speck  — 
Alight!    Alight?    Alight!    Alight! 

63 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

It  grew,  a  starlit  flag  unfurled! 

It  grew  to  be  Time's  burst  of  dawn. 
He  gained  a  world;  he  gave  that  world 

Its  grandest  lesson :     "  On !  sail  on !  "  * 

Sydney  Smith  once  well  said :  "  A  great  deal  of 
talent  is  lost  to  the  world  for  want  of  a  little 
courage.  Every  day  sends  to  their  graves  men 
who  have  remained  obscure  because  of  timidity. 
The  fact  is  that,  in  order  to  do  anything  in  this 
world  worth  doing,  we  must  not  stand  shivering  on 
the  brink  and  thinking  of  the  cold  and  danger ;  but 
jump  in  and  scramble  through  as  well  as  we  can. 
It  will  not  do  to  be  perpetually  calculating  risks, 
and  adjusting  nice  chances.  It  did  very  well  be- 
fore the  flood,  when  a  man  could  consult  his  friends 
upon  an  intended  publication  for  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  and  live  to  see  its  success  for  six  or 
seven  centuries  afterward.  But  at  present  a  man 
waits,  and  doubts,  and  hesitates,  and  consults  his 
father,  brother,  cousin,  friends,  till  one  fine  day  he 
finds  he  is  sixty-five  years  of  age.  There  is  so 
little  time  for  our  squeamishness  that  it  is  no  bad 
rule  to  preach  up  the  necessity  of  a  little  violence 
done  to  the  feelings  and  of  efforts  made  in  defiance 
of  strict  and  sober  calculation." 

Too  often  elderly  friends,  with  the  best  of  inten- 

*  This  poem  has  recently  been  set  to  music  by  Dr.  Carlos 
Troyer,  of  San  Francisco,  that  is  as  thrilling  and  soul- 
stirring  as  are  the  words.  Copies  may  be  had  by  sending 
sixty  cents  in  postage  stamps  to  Dr.  Troyer,  1236  19th  Ave., 
Sunset  District,  San  Francisco,  Calif. 

64 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

tions,  inculcate  this  fear  into  the  hearts  of  the 
young.  Never  was  there  a  greater  mistake  or  real 
unkindness.  It  is  nothing  that  the  intent  is  good. 
One's  intent  may  palliate  any  judgment  rendered 
against  the  offender,  but,  the  unfortunate  result, 
the  implanting  of  the  fear,  cannot  so  easily  be 
forgiven.  Oh  that  I  could  prevail  upon  older 
people  to  refrain  from  this  terribly  demoralizing 
habit  of  giving  advice  to  the  young  that  inculcates 
fear.  Let  me  illustrate : 

A  young  man  is  a  clerk  in  an  office.  He  sees  an 
opening  to  which  his  heart  and  brain  strongly  impel 
him,  but  there  is  a  little,  perhaps  a  great  deal,  of 
risk  connected  with  it.  He  goes  for  advice  to  his 
older  friends.  They,  with  their  life-work  prac- 
tically finished,  valuing  their  rest  and  content 
more  than  desiring  to  reenter  the  battle  of  life, 
naturally  are  wary  about  an  uncertainty.  "  Why 
not  leave  well  enough  alone?  Why  run  the  risk? 
What  will  you  do  if  this  fails?  You  will  have 
given  up  a  certainty  for  an  uncertainty,"  and 
so  on. 

Ah !  worldly  wise  though  it  seems,  it  is  the  most 
injurious  and  harmful  advice  that  the  young  could 
possibly  receive.  Where  would  progress  and  ad- 
vancement be  to-day  if  many  had  not  totally  disre- 
garded such  smug,  self-contented,  unheroic  advice ! 
Thank  God,  youth  is  the  time  for  adventure,  for 
striking  out,  for  making  mistakes,  for  learning, 
65 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

for  testing,  for  "  proving  all  things,"  and  holding 
fast  to  that  which  is  good.  Old  age  has  had  its 
day.  It  has  made  its  mistakes  and  profited  by 
them.  Let  it  keep  its  hands  off  the  young.  Let 
them  have  their  opportunity. 

Herbert  Spencer  tells  of  throwing  up  a  good  j  ob 
as  civil  engineer  in  order  to  experiment  with  a  mat- 
ter that  a  fortnight  proved  to  be  utterly  impos- 
sible. Yet  fifty  years  later  he  thus  reviewed  this 
apparently  self-injurious  act:  "Had  there  not 
been  this  seemingly  foolish  act,  I  should  have 
passed  a  humdrum  and  not  very  prosperous  life 
as  a  civil  engineer.  That  which  has  since  been 
done  would  never  have  been  done." 

In  other  words,  the  act  that  shook  him  out  of 
the  rut,  the  contented,  common,  mediocre  path, 
compelled  him  to  find  a  new  path  for  himself,  and 
this  called  upon  all  the  resources  of  his  great  and, 
to  him  and  others,  unknown  nature,  and  he  de- 
veloped into  the  transcendent  genius,  the  profound 
philosopher,  whose  writings  had  greater  influence, 
perhaps,  upon  his  century  than  those  of  any  other 
man. 

Hence  I  want  to  radiate  the  spirit  of  complete 
fearlessness,  not  only  for  myself,  but  for  my  young 
friends  of  both  sexes,  all  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  men.  I  would  calmly  watch  them  plunge  over- 
board into  the  ocean  of  life,  trustful  and  confident, 
having  first  taught  them  the  first  few  strokes  of 

66 


RADIANCIES     OF    FEAR 

swimming  —  the  principles  of  true  and  godly  liv- 
ing —  and  then  stand,  fearlessly,  and  watch  them 
strike  out  for  themselves.  I  swam, —  why  should 
not  they?  God  is  in  His  heaven  to-day  watching 
the  sparrows  fly  just  as  He  was  a  score,  a  hun- 
dred, a  thousand  years  ago. 

In  the  mental  world  how  fearful  people  often  are 
of  breaking  away  from  old  ideas.  Only  the  other 
day  a  friend  wrote  me  that  he  had  been  to  a  funeral, 
conducted  by  an  orthodox  clergyman.  He  said: 
"  I  imagine  his  is  a  very  orthodox  denomination, 
if  he  is  a  fair  sample  of  what  they  believe.  Glim- 
merings of  a  soul  that  hungers  for  larger  things 
than  its  creed  allowed  was  evident  in  his  talk,  how- 
ever. Is  it  not  pitiful,  and  more,  is  it  not  tragical, 
how  people  allow  their  soul-instincts  and  natural 
outreachings  to  be  killed,  or  hampered,  or  stilled  by 
what  their  befuddled  brains  or  the  brains  of  others 
have  decided  is  proper,  or  accepted  as  proper,  to 
believe?  " 

I  can  remember  when  good  Methodists  and  Con- 
gregationalists  were  "  kicked  out  of  the  church  " 
for  daring  to  hope  that  all  men  would  ultimately 
be  saved,  and  I  have  heard  preachers  and  doctors 
fulminating  against  Christian  Science  and  every- 
thing else  that  did  not  conform  exactly  to  what 
they  believed,  and  seeking  to  work  upon  the  fears  of 
their  congregations  to  prevent  any  investigation. 
This  kind  of  fear  is  unworthy  the  human  soul. 

67 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Be  in  a  daring,  a  receptive,  an  investigative  state 
of  mind.  I  would  radiate  a  readiness  and  willing- 
ness to  listen  to  anything  that  has  proven,  or  seems 
to  have  proven,  a  truth  to  another.  I  want  to 
welcome  truth  from  wherever  it  comes,  whether 
popular  or  unpopular,  wanted  or  unwanted.  I 
would  broaden  my  horizon,  heighten  my  aspira- 
tions and  deepen  my  conceptions  of  truth  and  be 
glad  to  receive  from  any  source.  I  well  remember 
John  Ruskin  saying  to  me :  "  Never  read  that 
book  or  listen  to  that  sermon  which  you  know  be- 
forehand you  will  agree  with.  By  so  doing  you 
deepen  the  ruts  of  your  own  mentality."  I  want 
no  mental  or  spiritual  ruts.  Good  roads  are  never 
"  rutted."  I  wish  to  be  a  broad,  wide,  well-paved, 
solid  road,  over  which  all  truth  may  run,  welcome, 
free,  untaxed,  life-giving. 

In  his  Memory  and  Rime,  Joaquin  Miller  in 
speaking  of  poets  refers  to  them  as  "  these  men 
who  have  room  and  strength  and  the  divine  audac- 
ity to  think  for  themselves." 

When  a  man  strikes  out  for  himself,  in  thought 
and  action,  he  does  have  to  be  audacious,  in  the 
higher  sense  of  the  word.  He  has  to  dare  his  fel- 
low men,  dare  their  criticism,  dare  their  disap- 
proval, dare  to  shock  them,  dare  to  grieve  them, 
perhaps.  He  has  to  dare  himself,  throw  down 
the  gauntlet  to  himself  in  his  struggle  to  become 
completely  what  he  believes  to  be  highest  and  best. 

68 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

It  takes  a  great  deal  of  courage  to  do  all  that,  a 
great  deal  of  resolution  —  an  initiative  that  may 
seem  impudence,  a  fearlessness  that  may  seem  reck- 
lessness. 

The  strength  that  makes  it  possible  to  do  this 
must  be  a  strength  like  to  the  divine  strength.  A 
strength  ordained  from  the  foundation  of  the  earth 
as  a  part  of  man's  birthright,  to  become  a  part 
of  himself,  when  he  begins  to  try  for  himself  to 
conceive  of  higher  good  and  to  live  it.  The  man 
who  thinks  only  as  other  men  think,  dares  act  only 
as  other  men  act,  is  as  a  babe  in  swaddling  clothes, 
helpless,  dependent.  One  can  never  be  strong  until 
he  learns  to  walk  alone,  independent  of  another's 
hand  to  cling  to  or  another's  strength  to  steady 
himself  by.  One  must  learn  to  stand  on  his  own 
feet,  learn  to  keep  his  own  balance,  learn  to  step 
by  his  own  volition.  If  he  does  not  he  becomes  a 
cripple.  Most  lives  are  as  the  lives  of  cripples, 
and  we  help  to  make  them  so  by  our  continued 
trying  to  force  people  to  cling  to  us  and  our  ideas, 
frightening  them  into  believing  that  they  are  in 
great  danger  if  they  try  to  step  alone.  A  little 
trembling  of  the  legs  as  one  first  stands  alone  is 
nothing  to  be  alarmed  at.  A  few  falls  and  bumps 
as  we  first  step  out  never  seriously  injure  us. 

It  is  only  when  a  life  has  strength  to  stand  out 
alone,  independent  of  its  fellows,  that  its  soul 
can  take  hold  of  God. 

69 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

And  I  fancy  that  it  is  only  when  a  life  thinks 
and  acts  for  itself,  and  allows  its  fellow  men  to 
think  and  act  for  themselves,  that  it  is  in  a  condi- 
tion to  really  give  help  and  to  receive  help,  really 
in  a  state  of  mind  to  fulfill  the  commandment : 
"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

It  is.  one  thing  to  be  brave  enough  to  do  some- 
thing which  is  hard  to  do  but  which  your  fellow 
men  will  approve  of  your  doing,  and  an  entirely 
different  thing  to  do  something  hard  but  which 
your  fellow  men  will  not  approve  of  your  doing. 
Therefore  I  want  to  radiate  into  actual,  living 
potentiality  my  belief  that  life  consists  in  expres- 
sion and  not  repression.  By  many  this  is  taken  to 
be  a  plea  for  license  and  want  of  self-control.  Do 
not  believe  it!  That  is  not  what  I  mean.  The 
expression  of  evil  is  not  the  expression  of  myself, 
for  I  long  to  do  only  good.  Read  what  St.  Paul 
says  on  the  sub j  ect.  And  by  "  I,"  I  mean  my  real 
self,  as  Paul  did  —  not  my  lower  self,  my  evil  hered- 
ity, or  whatever  it  is  that  seeks  to  drive  away  the 
good  from  me  —  I,  the  real  I,  the  self  which  is,  and 
which  may  not  appear  to  the  world,  want  to  ex- 
press all  that  is  in  that  real  self.  That  means  that 
I  must  control,  slay,  kill,  drive  out  all  the  evil  that 
comes  to  me  and  demands  that  I  express  it  as  part 
of  myself.  It  is  not  a  part  of  my  spiritual  self, 
and  if  I  express  evil  then  I  am  not  myself  in  that 
sense.  But  I  want  to  have  such  perfect,  such  abso- 

70 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

lute  control  over  all  outward  expressions  that  I 
shall  ever  and  at  all  times  express  nothing  but  that 
which  is  good ;  and  that  which  will  be  felt  to  be  good 
by  all  people. 

And  yet  we  must  determine  what  we  should  ex- 
press. The  thinking  man  and  woman  make  their 
own  standards.  These  standards,  in  certain  great 
principles  of  honor,  truth,  nobleness,  purity,  are 
practically  alike,  yet  most  men  and  women  are  con- 
trolled by  fashion,  custom,  society,  rather  than  by 
their  own  cool,  deliberate  judgment.  I  want  to 
radiate  my  protest  against  this  state  of  affairs.  I 
will  be  my  own  judge  and  not  place  the  responsi- 
bility for  my  own  moral  life  upon  the  judgment 
of  any  person,  society,  clique,  class,  or  church.  I 
must  be  saved  by  my  own  belief  and  life,  not  by 
the  belief  and  life  of  others. 

For  years  I  endeavored  to  "  avoid  the  appear- 
ance of  evil."  When  at  last,  however,  I  discovered 
that  the  "  appearance  of  evil  " —  the  determination 
of  what  it  was,  rested  upon  the  average  quality  of 
the  minds  of  the  community  by  which  I  was  sur- 
rounded, and  not  always  upon  right,  or  truth,  or 
justice,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  for  me,  at  least, 
God  had  a  higher  mission.  I  resolved,  therefore, 
in  His  strength  fearlessly  to  radiate  a  higher  con- 
ception of  things.  An  evil  mind  sees  evil  where 
none  is ;  a  filthy  mind  sees  filth  where  is  only  inno- 
cence and  sweetness.  Was  I  to  shape  my  life  and 

71 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

conduct  to  meet  the  ideas  of  those  who  deem  inno- 
cence and  trustfulness,  natural  simplicity,  and 
true-heartedness  as  "  appearances  of  evil  "  ?  God 
forbid.  Rather,  by  far,  would  I  suffer  in  the  judg- 
ments of  men  and  women,  cruel  and  untrue  though 
they  would  be,  than  forego  the  life  of  natural 
trust,  simple  uprightness  that  alone  mean  life 
to  me. 

And  this  is  what  I  desire  to  radiate, —  a  positive, 
powerful,  healthful,  aseptic  moral  quality  that 
will  refuse  to  allow  people  to  see  evil  where  none 
exists ;  that  will  lead  them  to  prefer  to  see,  to  hope 
for,  to  believe  in,  the  good  rather  than  the  evil  in 
men.  Better  trust  and  be  deceived,  than  live  a 
life  of  horrible  mistrust.  I  know  men  and  women 
are  imperfect,  and,  like  myself,  composed  of  good 
and  evil,  therefore  I  am  determined  to  radiate  my 
belief  in  the  good  in  them  rather  than  radiate  my 
belief  in  the  bad  of  them. 

It  is  worth  while  to  re-read  George  Eliot's  MUl 
on  the  Floss,  to  see  how  poor  Maggie  Tulliver  was 
misjudged  and  cruelly  treated  purely  on  what  peo- 
ple supposed  was  her  wrong-doing.  And  I  shall 
never  forget  the  influence  the  following  words  had 
on  me  when  I  first  read  them.  I  would  that  the 
lesson  they  contain  might  be  burned  into  the  in- 
most consciousness  of  every  reader  of  this  book. 

Even  on  the  supposition  that  required  the  utmost  stretch 
of  belief  —  namely,  that  none  of  the  things  said  about  Miss 

72 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

Tulliver  were  true  —  still,  since  they  had  been  said  about 
her,  they  had  cast  an  odor  around  her  which  must  cause 
her  to  be  shrunk  from  by  every  woman  who  had  to  take 
care  of  her  own  reputation  —  and  of  society.  To  have 
taken  Maggie  by  the  hand  and  said,  '  I  will  not  believe  un- 
proved evil  of  you;  my  lips  shall  not  utter  it;  my  ears  shall 
be  closed  against  it;  I,  too,  am  an  erring  mortal,  liable  to 
stumble,  apt  to  come  short  of  my  most  earnest  efforts,  your 
lot  has  been  harder  than  mine,  your  temptation  greater; 
let  us  help  each  other  to  stand  and  walk  without  more  fall- 
ing;'—  to  have  done  this  would  have  demanded  courage, 
deep  pity,  self-knowledge,  generous  trust  —  would  have  de- 
manded a  mind  that  tasted  no  piquancy  in  evil  speaking, 
that  felt  no  self -exaltation  in  condemning,  that  cheated 
itself  with  no  large  words  into  the  belief  that  life  can  have 
any  moral  end,  any  high  religion,  which  excludes  the  striv- 
ing after  perfect  truth,  justice,  and  love  towards  the  in- 
dividual men  and  women  who  come  across  our  own  path. 

It  is  my  earnest  desire  that  I  may  radiate  this 
spirit  of  courage,  deep  pity,  self-knowledge,  gener- 
ous trust,  and  all  that  follows.  And  this,  not  in 
an  abstract  or  theoretical  way,  but  in  the  real  con- 
crete cases  that  one  meets  with  in  life.  I  am  not 
too  good  to  associate  with  the  found-out  wrong- 
doer if  he  is  striving  against  his  wrong-doing,  and 
aiming  to  be  better.  I  would  not  look  down  on 
any  human  being  because  of  any  sin.  Though  I 
want  to  grow  to  hate  sin  more  and  more  as  the 
manifestations  of  that  which  separates  us  from  the 
Infinite,  I  want  the  sinner  to  feel  that  I  am  one 
with  him  in  all  desire  to  be  free  from  evil,  to 
be  possessed  only  by  the  spirit  of  truth,  purity, 
and  love. 

73 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

All  great  victories  whether  of  peace  or  war  have 
been  won  by  the  fearless,  the  unafraid.  We  honor 
the  heroes  of  the  past,  of  Thermopylae,  and  the 
fearless  and  brave  of  all  nations  and  all  time. 
Tennyson's  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  appeals 
to  our  love  and  respect  for  the  virile,  the  manly, 
the  courageous,  the  fearless,  and  it  is  the  same 
spirit  that  thrills  us  when  we  read  or  hear  Curfew 
Shall  not  Ring  To-night.  To  save  her  lover  the 
shrinking  maiden  was  filled  with  high  born  courage 
and  dared  to  hang  on  to  the  bell.  Whether  we 
agree  with  his  beliefs  or  not  we  admire  the  bravery 
of  Luther  that  led  him  to  exclaim :  "  Were  there 
as  many  devils  in  my  way  as  tiles  on  the  house  tops 
yet  would  I  go  to  Worms."  Whether  we  approve 
of  his  ascetic  life  or  not  we  thrill  at  the  bravery, 
the  simple-hearted  daring  of  Francis  of  Assisi,  who 
resolutely  cast  aside  his  patrimony  and  dared  his 
father's  anger  that  he  might  serve  God  in  his  own 
way. 

Every  advanced  thinker,  whose  life  and  action 
spell  progress  for  the  race,  has  to  be  a  daring 
pioneer.  He  must  be  an  iconoclast;  he  must  be 
self-contained,  self-assured,  self-confident.  He 
must  stand  aloof  from  his  fellows  in  the  very  spirit 
of  the  message  he  brings,  for  he  dares  —  imperfect, 
weak,  even  sinful  though  he  be  —  to  be  a  teacher,  a 
leader  of  others.  And  how  natural,  human,  it  is 
for  those  who  live  with  or  near  him,  seeing  and 
74 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

knowing  as  they  do,  all  his  foibles,  weaknesses, 
littlenesses,  failures,  sins,  to  magnify  these  things 
and  by  them  hide  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the 
lesson  God  has  given  him  to  teach  the  world. 

Our  poets  have  given  us  some  wonderfully 
vivid  pictures  of  the  fearless.  Perhaps  the  great- 
est in  all  literature  is  Shelley's  Prometheus.  It  is 
worth  reading  a  score  of  times  in  order  that  its 
spirit  of  fearlessness  might  be  absorbed.  Joaquin 
Miller's  Columbus,  which  I  have  already  quoted, 
gives  a  marvelously  vivid  picture  of  the  great  ad- 
miral when  even  hope  had  gone  from  his  own  heart, 
when  he  could  not  pierce  by  faith  the  darkness  of 
his  own  soul. 

Then,  pale  and  worn,  he  kept  his  deck, 

And  peered  through  darkness.    Ah,  that  night 

Of  all  dark  nights! 

Yet  though  it  was  all  darkness  to  his  own  soul, 
and  m  his  own  soul,  he  kept  on.  His  orders  were 
"  Sail  on ! "  And  his  courage  and  bravery 
brought  him  to  the  light  of  the  new  world. 

Browning  in  his  Prospice  opens  with  the  bold 
and  daring  interrogative :  "  Fear  death  ?  "  and, 
after  showing  what  there  is  to  fear,  exclaims  as  in 
an  ecstasy  of  fearlessness : 

I  would  hate  that  death  bandaged  my  eyes,  and  forebore 

And  bade  me  creep  past. 

No !  let  me  fare  like  my  peers,  the  heroes  of  old. 

In  a  minute  pay,  glad,  life's  arrears 

Of  pain,  darkness,  and  cold. 

75 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

I  want  to  radiate  the  active  consciousness  even 
when  I  am  storm-tossed,  beaten  down  by  fierce 
winds,  compelled  to  stay  my  journey  by  the  sand- 
laden,  hot  sirocco  of  the  desert,  dashed  upon  the 
cruel  rocks  by  tempestuous  waves,  frozen  by  the 
blizzards  of  the  North,  that  I  have  nothing  to  fear, 
that  nothing  can  harm  me  save  myself,  that  God  is 
over  all  and  in  all.  As  David  called  upon  moun- 
tains, and  all  hills,  fire,  and  hail,  snow  and  vapors, 
stormy  wind,  to  praise  Him,  fulfilling  His  word,  so 
would  I  call.  And  in  calling  I  would  rest  and  be 
at  peace. 

And  I  want  to  radiate  to  others  my  fearlessness 
for  them.  They  need  not  fear  though  the  heavens 
fall.  Many  a  man  fails  in  the  fierce  conflict  rag- 
ing in  his  own  soul  because  he  has  been  taught  to 
fear  the  fierce  judgment  of  an  angry  God.  I  want 
with  all  the  vehemence  of  my  nature  to  radiate  a 
spirit  that  will  kill  and  bury  forever  such  fear  in 
human  souls.  Let  no  one  daunt  you  by  such 
teaching.  Under  all  circumstances,  brother,  keep 
your  face  up! 

Look  ever  to  the  stars ! 

If,  in  the  conflict,  you  lose  heart,  do  not  let  your 
face  down  so  as  to  be  covered  by  the  mud  into 
which  you  are  sinking.  Battle  on,  though  you  are 
finally  swallowed  up  —  or  fear  you  will  be.  Go 
down  face  up,  and  let  the  last  thing  your  expiring 
gaze  rests  upon,  be  the  stars  above.  Though  the 

76 


RADIANCIES     OF     FEAR 

mud  and  mire  cover  your  mouth  so  that  you  can- 
not cry  out, 

Look  up  to  the  stars ! 

Though  it  rise  higher,  and  cover  your  nostrils 
so  that  you  cease  to  breath, 

Look  up  to  the  stars! 

Though  it  flows  into  your  very  eyes, 

Look  up  to  tJie  stars! 

My  word  for  it,  my  soul  for  yours,  the  God  of 
men  will  take  that  last  expiring  glance  of  yours 
and  make  it  the  lever  that  shall  pull  you  out  of  the 
mire  and  set  your  feet  upon  the  rock  and  establish 
your  goings,  and 

PUT  A  NEW  SONG  INTO  YOUR  MOUTH. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    RADIANCY    OF    REBUKE 

1  WANT  to  radiate  the  ability  to  rebuke  without 
offense,  although  this  may  appear  to  be  a  singular 
desire.  One  night  I  sat  with  a  friend  enj  oy ing  the 
exquisite  music  of  the  Boston  Symphony  Orches- 
tra. During  one  of  the  most  subtle  and  delicate 
passages  a  "  lady  "  in  the  seat  behind  me  began  to 
whisper  to  her  escort.  It  was  as  the  thrusting  of 
a  bottle  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  under  my  nose 
when  I  was  enjoying  the  subtle  essence  of  a  violet. 

Four  times  that  evening  did  that  "  cultured  " 
Boston  savage  outrage  my  susceptibilities  by  her 
rudeness,  by  her  theft  of  my  power  and  right  of 
enj  oyment. 

I  wanted  to  rebuke  her,  and  I  did  not  know  how, 
without  giving  her  offense.  I  used  to  offend  such 
offenders  and  glory  in  my  share  of  the  offense.  I 
hope  I  have  learned  better, —  yet,  all  the  same,  I 
do  wish  to  administer  some  rebuke,  that  will  be 
effective.  As  I  have  said  elsewhere,  I  want  to  do 
this  so  that  my  own  serenity  is  preserved.  Thus 
shall  I  radiate  serenity  and  not  offense.  If  I  am 
disturbed,  offended,  outraged,  I  radiate  those  vibra- 

78 


THE     RADIANCY     OF     REBUKE 

tions  of  unrest  and  disturbance.  I  would  reprove 
kindly,  but  surely  and  effectively,  and  that  is  best 
done  by  bringing  the  offender  into  sympathy  with 
the  best  that  I  desire  for  him  as  well  as  myself. 

I  would  that  I  could  rebuke  every  boy  who  keeps 
a  seat  in  a  car  when  an  elderly  or  aged  man  or 
woman  stands  by  unseated. 

I  would  that  I  could  rebuke  every  parent  who 
fails  to  teach  his  or  her  child  his  duty  in  this 
regard. 

I  would  that  I  could  rebuke  every  parent  who 
fails  to  require  absolute  and  explicit  obedience  to 
authority  —  his  own  and  all  other  proper  authori- 
ties —  on  the  part  of  his  or  her  child. 

I  would  that  I  could  rebuke  every  irreverent  per- 
son whether  in  Catholic  Cathedral,  Episcopal 
Church,  Methodist  Chapel,  Congregational  Meet- 
ing-house, Navaho  Hogan,  Hopi  Kiva,  or  Chinese 
Joss  House,  who  laugh,  sneer,  talk  aloud,  or  in 
other  vulgar  way  show  their  irreverence.  All  are 
sacred  to  some  one  —  all  should  alike  be  reverenced. 

I  would  that  I  could  rebuke  every  haughty 
purse-proud  woman  or  man  who  demands  service, 
not  through  love,  but  by  power  of  money  or  fear. 

And  my  rebuke  list  would  include  the  politician 
who  uses  his  office  for  graft,  the  senator  who  sells 
his  vote,  the  legislator  who  hesitates  to  give  his 
interest  and  vote  to  all  bills  that  seek  the  true 
welfare  of  the  common  people.  It  would  include 

79 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

every  purveyor  of  adulterated  foods  for  the  people, 
every  user  of  child  labor,  every  employer  of  sweated 
labor,  and  every  "  bargain-counter "  fiend  who 
hunts  for  the  product  of  the  sweat-shop.  It  would 
include  every  newspaper  owner  who  allows  preju- 
dice to  control  his  columns  rather  than  fairness, 
and  makes  himself  a  party  to  the  willful  deception 
of  the  people;  every  lawyer  who  values  fees  more 
than  justice;  every  physician  a  case  more  than 
health;  every  preacher  a  fat  salary  more  than 
truth. 

And  it  might  include  you,  reader,  did  I  know 
you  as  well  as  I  know  myself,  whom  I  rebuke  con- 
stantly. 


80 


CHAPTER  IX 

WHAT    I    WOULD    BADIATE    TO    THE    WEONG    DOER 

1*  OR  two  years  I  was  the  chaplain  for  two  homes 
where  women  who  had  led  evil  lives  were  sheltered 
and  cared  for.  During  part  of  this  time  I  helped 
organize  and  conduct  a  midnight  mission  in  one 
of  the  most  degraded  parts  of  a  large  eastern  city. 
I  have  had  a  large  and  varied  acquaintance  with 
criminals  of  both  sexes,  of  all  ages  and  conditions, 
and  have  been  the  recipient  of  many  strange  and 
startling  confidences  of  men  and  women  whose  in- 
tegrity has  never  been  questioned,  and  yet  who,  if 
their  inner  life  were  known,  would  have  been  exe- 
crated and  ostracized. 

As  a  result  of  these  varied  experiences  and  the 
knowledge  that  has  come  to  me  I  am  compelled  to 
assert  that  I  believe  our  present  system  of  treat- 
ment of  wrong-doers  is  not  only  unchristian  but 
unwise  and  foolish,  and  that  it  fosters  and  cherishes 
some  of  the  very  wrongs  we  seek  to  prevent. 

The  attitude  we  take  —  that  every  evil  doer 
loves  his  evil  doing,  sins  because  he  wants  to  sin, 
is  a  criminal  for  his  own  pleasure  —  is  absurd  and 
foolish.  And  what  wicked  cruelties  such  an  atti- 

81 


LIVING    THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

tude  leads  us  to  commit.  Socrates  saw  clearer 
than  that  centuries  ago  when  he  said :  "  It  is 
strange  that  you  should  not  be  angry  when  you 
meet  a  man  with  an  ill-conditioned  body,  and  yet 
be  vexed  when  you  encounter  one  with  an  ill-condi- 
tioned soul !  " 

Most  of  us  have  a  lot  of  maxims  or  rules  that  we 
apply  to  those  wrong-doers  who  come  under  our 
ken,  forgetful  of  the  fact  that  the  strange  thing 
about  human  nature  is  that  it  doesn't  fit  your,  or 
my,  or  any  one's  ideas  or  notions.  It  cannot  be 
bounded,  as  you  bound  a  sea  or  an  island.  It  can- 
not be  plotted  or  catalogued  as  you  plot  a  lawn  or 
catalogue  a  library.  The  only  way  you  can  read 
men  and  women  is  with  sympathy  and  love  —  sym- 
pathy for  their  failures  to  measure  up  to  your  con- 
ceptions of  manhood  and  womanhood ;  love  for  the 
undoubted  good  that  you  perceive. 

All  moral  judgments  must  remain  false  and  hol- 
low that  are  not  checked  and  enlightened  by  a  per- 
petual reference  to  the  special  circumstances  that 
mark  the  individual  lot. 

Christ  did  not  in  the  least  abrogate  the  Seventh 
Commandment  when  he  said  to  the  woman  taken  in 
the  act  of  adultery :  "  I  do  not  condemn  thee. 
Go  and  sin  no  more."  In  my  opinion  He  wished  to 
teach  the  lesson  that  the  self-righteousness  and 
hypocrisy  of  her  accusers  were  also  crimes. 

All  men  that  are  drunkards  are  not  equally  cul- 


THE     WRONG     DOER 

pable,  deserving  of  hell-fire  and  to  be  swept  there 
by  quoting  the  Hebrew  scriptures :  "  No  drunk- 
ard shall  inherit  eternal  life."  The  special  circum- 
stances must  be  considered,  and  God  only  is  com- 
petent to  do  this.  Whenever  I  hear  these  ready 
quotations,  whenever  I  am  tempted  to  use  them  in 
my  dealings  with  my  erring  fellow-men  and  women 
I  recall  what  George  Eliot  wrote  in  The  Mill  on 
the  Floss. 

All  people  of  broad,  strong  sense  have  an  instinctive  re- 
pugnance to  the  men  of  maxims;  because  such  people  early 
discern  that  the  mysterious  complexity  of  our  life  is  not  to 
be  embraced  by  maxims,  and  that  to  lace  ourselves  up  in 
formulas  of  that  sort  is  to  repress  all  the  divine  prompt- 
ings and  inspirations  that  spring  from  growing  insight  and 
sympathy.  And  the  man  of  maxims  is  the  popular  repre- 
sentative of  the  minds  that  are  guided  in  their  moral  judg- 
ment safely  by  general  rules,  thinking  that  these  will  lead 
them  to  justice  by  a  ready-made  patent  method,  without  the 
trouble  of  exerting  patience,  discrimination,  impartiality, 
—  without  any  care  to  assure  themselves  whether  they  have 
the  insight  that  comes  from  a  hardly  earned  estimate  of 
temptation,  or  from  a  life  vivid  and  intense  enough  to  have 
created  a  wide  fellow-feeling  with  all  that  is  human. 

The  true  brotherhood  of  man  is  that  which  takes 
upon  itself  all  the  weaknesses,  all  the  burdens,  all 
the  woes,  all  the  sins  of  the  world  of  men  and 
women.  This  is  what  Christ  did!  Ah,  that  we 
might  perceive  and  realize  it !  This  is  what  makes 
Walt  Whitman  so  great  a  poet, —  that  he  tries  to 
teach  us  this  lesson.  This  is  what  gave  to  Ernest 

83 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Crosby  his  power,  gave  to  Golden  Rule  Jones  his 
influence.  They  felt  the  brotherhood,  truly,  really, 
deeply,  even  though  imperfectly.  Christ  felt  it 
perfectly.  Can  we  not  try  to  feel  it?  Whenever 
we  behold  sin  in  others  it  behooves  us  to  remember 
that  Paul  said,  "  All  have  sinned  and  come  short  of 
the  glory  of  God,"  and  that  whenever  we  condemn 
sin  in  another  we  condemn  some  sin  in  ourselves. 
We  are  all  sinners  in  some  way  or  another.  There 
are  those  who  feel  the  oneness  of  human  relation- 
ship so  keenly  that  they  have  declared  that  when 
another  did  a  wrong  they  felt  it  as  if  it  were  their 
own  personal  act.  While  I  have  not  yet  come  to 
so  close  a  recognition  of  my  brotherhood  to  all  men 
and  women  as  that,  I  can  deeply  sympathize  with 
the  feeling.  We  all  know  how  a  brother  feels  if 
one  of  his  own  family  —  sister  or  brother  — "  goes 
wrong."  He  is  grieved  and  disgraced.  A  burden 
is  placed  upon  him.  When  we  fully  recognize  the 
brotherhood  we  owe  to  all  men  and  women  I  doubt 
not  we  shall  then  feel  this  personal  sorrow  and 
disgrace,  which  will  lead  us  to  seek  our  brother's 
speedy  reclamation,  with  helpful  sympathy  and 
loving  encouragement. 

Only  those  touched  with  the  essential  spirit  of 
the  love  that  belongs  to  the  Divine,  or  those  who 
have  sinned  much,  can  know  the  great  secret  of 
human  tenderness  and  long  suffering  towards  the 
wrong  doer  that  alone,  at  times,  can  help  him. 

84 


THE     WRONG     DOER 

Oh  for  more  of  this  human  tenderness  and  sym- 
pathy, this  long  suffering  and  patience,  this  active 
principle  of  Divine  Love  that  burns  through  all 
crusts  and  coatings  of  evil  into  the  most  secret  cor- 
ners of  the  heart  where  the  good  is  enshrined, 
though  forgotten. 

I  have  just  been  talking  with  a  prominent  editor 
about  a  man  in  his  office,  competent,  thorough,  re- 
liable, manly,  a  systematic  worker  and  able  to  get 
the  best  results  out  of  those  in  his  department,  yet 
who,  once  in  a  while,  goes  off  on  a  terrible  debauch. 
He  will  drink  up  all  the  money  at  hand,  then  draw 
out  whatever  he  has  saved  in  the  bank  (sometimes 
nearly  a  thousand  dollars),  engage  an  automobile, 
surround  himself  with  dissolute  companions,  squan- 
der his  money  on  them,  then  borrow  from  his 
friends,  who,  knowing  that  when  sober  he  will  pay 
back  every  cent,  cruelly  lend  it  to  him,  and  thus 
"  go  the  pace  "  until  either  money  gives  out,  or 
physical  endurance  can  no  longer  stand  the  strain. 
Then  his  true  friends  come  and  pick  him  up  out  of 
the  gutter,  or  care  for  him  in  a  hospital  until  he 
recovers. 

As  soon  as  he  is  sane  and  sober  again  he  is  over- 
whelmed with  remorse  and  sorrow.  He  knows  that 
he  is  ruining  himself  in  every  way  and  from  every 
possible  standpoint,  yet  there  is  that  in  him  that 
seems  to  render  him  incapable  of  resisting  these 
temptations  to  periodical  sprees.  He  listens  with 

85 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

true  penitence  to  the  cautions  of  his  employers, 
his  fellow  workers,  and  to  the  heart-broken  plead- 
ings of  his  aged  mother  who  fairly  idolizes  him  — 
still  he  drinks. 

What  shall  I  radiate  to  such  a  man  —  to  all  such 
men?  Can  I  ignore  the  degradation  of  their  de- 
bauchery ?  Certainly  not !  Can  I  ignore  the  fact 
that,  as  a  rule,  when  the  downward  path  is  once 
begun,  the  sober  intervals  grow  shorter  after  each 
debauch,  and  that  by  radiating  friendliness  to  such 
a  man  I  am  tying  myself  to  one  who  will  ultimately 
disgrace  himself  and  me?  Shall  I  cease  to  be  his 
friend,  in  order  to  protect  myself? 

God  forbid!  To  radiate  friendliness  is  not 
enough.  Seek  to  possess  more  than  this,  that  you 
may  radiate  more.  Greater  than  friendship  is 
love.  Love  your  friend  as  yourself.  He  is  having 
a  desperate  struggle.  Give  him  your  love,  your 
thoughtful,  considerate,  protective  love.  If  neces- 
sary treat  him  as  you  would  an  insane  person,  for 
the  highest  medical  experts  now  concede  that 
"  while  alcoholic  excess  is  a  prolific  source  of  dis- 
ease and  mental  instability,  disease  and  mental  in- 
stability are  even  more  provocative  of  the  alcoholic 
habit."  The  greatest  possible  kindness  to  such  an 
one  would  be  to  lovingly,  tenderly,  sympathetically 
lock  him  up.  The  insane  man  must  be  kept  from 
doing  himself  and  others  an  injury.  .  Society  must 
protect  itself  from  the  evil  doer,  regardless  of  his 

86 


THE    WRONG    DOER 

moral  responsibility,  but  the  "  how  "  of  that  pro- 
tection is  one  of  the  most  important  things  in  the 
development  of  the  human  race.  As  we  now  pro- 
tect ourselves  we  show  the  barbarity  of  the  abo- 
rigine, the  cruel  vindictiveness  of  the  savage. 

I  am  fully  satisfied  that  the  time  will  come  when 
we  shall  so  radiate  Christian  love  one  to  another, 
and  especially  to  our  weaker  brothers  and  sisters 
—  whether  their  weaknesses  manifest  themselves  in 
alcoholic  excess,  sexual  sins,  gambling,  theft,  drug- 
manias,  or  any  other  form  of  wrong-doing  —  that 
we  shall  prepare  for  them  places  where  they  may  be 
properly  cared  for,  and  especially  whenever  they 
fear  they  are  in  danger  of  succumbing  to  their 
weaknesses.  This  method  would  not  apply  to 
those  who  are  so  enthralled  by  sin  that  they  think 
they  find  great  pleasure  in  the  gross  gratification 
of  the  senses,  for  such  are  doomed  to  suffer  until 
they  are  forced  to  see  their  errors  and  turn  from 
them  with  loathing,  but  there  are  others  who  are 
unwilling  victims  to  appetite  and  evil  habits.  The 
burdens  which  weak  humanity  carries  are  many 
and  complex,  and  sometimes  even  mysterious.  It 
is  known  to  the  medical  world  that  many  wrong 
deeds  and  even  serious  crimes  are  committed  by 
men  and  women  under  temporary  abnormal  men- 
tal conditions.  In  Scriptural  times  doubtless  it 
would  have  been  said  that  they  were  possessed 
with  demons,  but  the  modern  expert  calls  such  con- 

87 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

ditions  manias  of  various  kinds.  Whatever  the 
subtle  cause  of  this  species  of  insanity,  it  is 
generally  admitted  that  the  attacks  are  of  a  peri- 
odical nature,  and  that  during  the  intervals  the 
victims  conduct  themselves  in  accordance  with  or- 
dinary standards.  Condemnation  and  ostracism 
cannot  remedy  such  evils,  but  true  Christianity 
should  prompt  a  method  of  treatment  that  will 
encourage  and  sustain  rather  than  induce  despair. 
Even  ordinary  so-called  "  sinners "  are  not  re- 
claimed by  avoiding  them  utterly.  Those  who  go 
down  into  the  slums  and  plague-spots  of  our  cities 
would  never  rescue  any  of  the  "  perishing "  if 
they  went  grudgingly,  and  holding  themselves 
daintily  aloof  in  self-righteous  superiority.  No, 
they  brave  the  pestilential  radiation  in  perfect 
safety  and  carry  hope  to  the  fallen  because  they 
possess  the  mind  of  Christ,  which  is  purity  and 
love.  This  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  the  pure 
and  good  naturally  shrink  from  depravity  and 
degradation,  nor  that  it  is  expedient  to  protect 
the  ignorant  and  innocent  from  association  with 
those  who  radiate  impurity,  oftentimes,  but  since 
it  is  well  known  that  society  contains  many  men 
and  some  women  whose  private  lives  would  not 
stand  publicity,  the  only  safeguard  is  to  be  forti- 
fied within  with  that  purity  and  goodness  which 
involuntarily  resists  evil  and  imparts  good. 


88 


CHAPTER  X 

THE    EADIANCIES    OF    TOLERATION 

1  WANT  to  radiate  my  conception  of  what,  in 
religion,  is  commonly  termed  "'toleration."  To 
me  the  term  is  a  misnomer.  Its  use  is  based  upon 
a  gross  and  small-minded  misunderstanding  of  the 
right,  inherent  to  each  human  being,  to  live  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience  in 
all  things  that  do  not  militate  against  what  the 
majority  conceive  to  be  the  public  good. 

What  is  religion?  My  own  definition  is  that 
it  is  the  highest  within  myself  reaching  out  to 
the  highest  I  can  see  or  conceive  outside  of  myself. 
In  this  "  reaching  out,"  this  "  following  after,"  or 
"  apprehending,"  as  St.  Paul  calls  it,  I  alone  must 
determine  that  which  I  will  seek  for.  Others  may 
aid  me  in  my  search,  others  may  point  out  to  me 
and  for  me  that  which  they  have  reached,  or  are 
striving  to  reach,  and  in  that  way  they  may  aid 
and  help  me.  But  for  another  to  say,  "  This  is 
that  alone  for  which  you  should  strive,"  or  "  That 
is  the  supreme  end  of  all  effort,"  and  to  refuse  me 
any  right  of  appeal  to  my  own  judgment  is  to 
stultify  my  own  God-given  powers  and  to  make  a 
89 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

mere  puppet  of  me.  Hence  I  stand,  or  fall,  on 
the  platform  of  individualism  in  religion.  I  affirm 
that  it  is  a  purely  personal  matter,  that  there  can 
be  no  coercion,  no  forcing  of  any  individual  to 
adopt  a  general  plan  which  another  individual 
asserts  that  all  must  follow  to  their  eternal  well- 
being,  or  disregard  to  their  own  damnation. 

The  attitude  I  would  radiate  is  this.  For  my- 
self I  know,  or  am  learning,  what  I  must  believe, 
what  I  must  strive  for,  what  I  must  seek  to  be- 
come. So  long  as  this  belief,  this  striving,  this 
aim,  does  not  interfere  with  the  exercise  of  the 
belief,  the  striving,  the  aim  of  others,  and  is  not 
subversive  of  the  public  good,  I  demand  my  in- 
herent right  of  individual  belief,  individual  striv- 
ing, individual  aim.  When  one  who  differs  from 
me  offers  me  his  "  charity,"  or  his  "  toleration," 
I  regard  his  offer  as  an  insolence  and  small-minded 
impertinence.  I  want  no  charity,  I  refuse  all  tol- 
eration, for  I  own  as  many  inherent  rights  as  the 
one  who  thus  presumes  to  offer  me  his  charity  and 
his  tolerance.  He  needs  my  charity  and  toler- 
ance to  cover  his  individualism  as  much  as  I  need 
his.  I  have  as  much  right  to  offer  mine  to  him 
as  he  to  offer  his  to  me.  Hence,  boldly,  fearlessly, 
restful  in  my  God-given  right,  I  believe,  I  strive, 
I  aim  to  reach  God  as  best  I  may.  But  in  the 
very  self-assertiveness  of  this  right  it  is  an  essen- 
tial condition  of  my  perfect  freedom  that  I  abso- 

90 


TOLERATION 

lately  accord  it  to  all  others,  no  matter  how 
diverse  from  mine  their  beliefs,  their  strivings, 
their  aims.  There  must  be  no  mental  reservations, 
no  subterfuges,  no  playing  with  one's  own  intel- 
lect or  conscience.  The  freedom  to  others  must 
be  as  large  and  complete  as  the  freedom  I  demand 
for  myself,  for,  wherein  I  limit,  even  in  my  most 
secret  mind  and  heart,  the  freedom  of  my  neighbor, 
I  am  giving  to  him  the  right  to  limit  me.  "  With 
what  measure  ye  mete  it  shall  be  measured  to  you 
again." 

I  resent  any  interference  with  my  right  to  be- 
lieve as  I  choose.  My  friends,  G and  S , 

are  Catholics.  In  the  exercise  of  their  God-given 
right  they  accept  a  different  faith  from  mine. 
They  are  equally  earnest,  equally  intelligent, 
equally  sincere  in  their  profession  of  faith  as  am 
I.  Just  as  I  resent  any  interference  with  my  own 
right  to  believe  as  I  choose,  so  do  I  resent,  with 
equal,  and  even  stronger  fervor,  any  interference 

with  G 's  and  S 's  rights  to  believe  as  they 

choose. 

I  say  with  "  even  stronger  fervor."  You  may 
ask,  "  Why  with  stronger  fervor?  "  The  reason 
is  this.  I  find,  within  my  own  soul,  a  greater 
readiness  to  demand  freedom  for  myself  than  I  do 
to  accord  it  to  those  who  differ  from  me.  Hence 
honor  demands  that  I  watch  with  even  closer 
scrutiny  the  rights  of  my  neighbors  than  I  guard 
91 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

against  encroachments  upon  my  own.  Selfishness 
will  care  for  my  own.  Indifference  to  my  neigh- 
bors may  lead  me  to  be  careless  of  theirs. 

Other  neighbors,  P and  X ,  are  Chris- 
tian Scientists ;  still  others,  A—    -  and  J ,  are 

Unitarians;  others,  D and  C ,  are  Uni- 

versalists;  and  I  have  friends,  dear  to  my  heart, 
whom  I  love  with  true,  pure  fervor  and  who,  I  am 
assured,  love  me  with  an  equal  sincerity,  who  are 
Jews,  Hopis,  Wallapais,  Havasupais,  Apaches, 
Greeks,  Mohammedans,  Hindoos,  Theosophists, 
Spiritualists,  Atheists,  Shakers,  Agnostics,  Com- 
munists, and  Mormons.  Take  these  beliefs  and 
non-beliefs  with  the  one  I  profess  and  the  others 
I  have  referred  to,  and  there  is  as  perfect  a  hodge- 
podge of  diversities  and  differences  as  one  can 
possibly  imagine.  Do  I  attempt  to  reconcile 
them?  No!  Do  I  agree  with  them  all?  No! 
Can  I  harmonize  them  all?  No!  It  is  neither 
my  business  to  reconcile  them,  agree  with  them, 
nor  harmonize  them.  I  am  not  sent  to  earth  to 
make  all  men's  minds  and  souls  alike,  any  more 
than  Burbank  is  sent  to  make  all  flowers  and 
plants,  shrubs  and  trees  alike.  My  business  is  to 
develop  and  live  my  own  life,  in  harmony  with 
my  own  beliefs,  aims,  and  strivings,  to  the  utmost, 
and  seek  the  utmost  good  for  my  fellow.  And  in 
no  way  can  I  better  do  that  than  by  aiding  him 

92 


TOLERATION 

to  live  his  highest  beliefs  to  the  utmost,  helping 
him  in  his  strivings,  make  clearer  to  him  the 
beauty  of  his  own  aims."  Hence,  even  as  I  want 
all  good  men  and  true  to  bid  me  a  hearty,  an 
earnest,  a  sincere  "  God-speed !  "  in  my  own  striv- 
ings, so  do  I,  with  all  my  heart,  bid  my  many  and 
diverse-believing,  diverse-aiming  friends  God- 
speed in  their  endeavors. 

If,  for  the  public  good,  I  should  ever  be  called 
upon  to  pass  judgment  upon  any  of  the  actions 
that  are  the  result  of  the  beliefs  of  my  neighbors 
and  friends,  and  I,  with  my  fellow  jurors,  deemed 
these  actions  subversive  of  the  public  good,  I  could 
unite  with  my  fellows  in  suppressing  these  actions. 
But  this  would  be  done  with  a  perfectly  open 
heart,  without  malice,  without  censure  even,  with- 
out any  presumption,  without  any  interference 
with  the  principle  I  have  sought  clearly  to  state 
and  exemplify.  It  would  be  done  as  the  result  of 
our  united  judgment  upon  a  matter  of  public  pol- 
icy —  not  a  fixed,  established  assurance  of  right 
or  wrong,  but  as  a  matter  wherein,  for  the  benefit 
of  others,  we  regarded  the  restriction  of  an  inher- 
ent and  God-given  freedom  a  justifiable  act. 

Herein,  to  my  mind,  lies  the  power  of  the  argu- 
ment of  the  political  prohibitionists.  They  seek 
to  prohibit  men  from  the  exercise  of  their  un- 
doubted right  to  manufacture  and  sell  alcoholic 
93 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

stimulants  —  their  undoubted  right  provided  it 
could  be  done  without  injury  to  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  their  fellow-beings.  No  one  can  claim 
an  inherent  right  to  injure  his  neighbor  willfully 
and  deliberately.  No  one  can  claim  a  God-given 
right  to  transgress  God's  own  laws.  Those  who 
believe  in  God  believe  He  has  ordained  laws  for  the 
government  of  all  that  He  has  created.  The  in- 
terpretation of  the  "  moral  law  "  as  handed  down 
to  us  in  the  Scriptures  is,  in  the  main,  similar  in 
all  creeds  in  Christendom,  and  practically  the  same 
among  all  who,  without  so-called  creeds,  believe  in 
the  brotherhood  of  man. 

Upon  those  points  wherein  men  have  conscien- 
tiously differed  there  have  been  instances  where 
the  ruling  majority  has  restricted  or  taken  away 
the  rights  of  the  minority  to  put  their  beliefs  into 
practice,  because  the  consensus  of  opinion  has 
decided  such  acts  to  be  contrary  to  public  policy 
or  public  good,  but  it  does  not  necessarily  follow 
that  the  interference  was  based  upon  incontroverti- 
ble ideas  of  right  or  wrong. 

My  contention  is  that  no  man  or  body  of  men 
has  the  inherent  right  to  interfere  with  the  beliefs 
and  acts  of  their  fellow-beings  who  are  sincerely 
and  conscientiously  seeking  to  love  God  with  all 
the  heart  and  their  neighbors  as  themselves,  but  in 
all  countries  where  the  majority  is  supposed  to 
rule  it  is  expedient  to  submit  to  prevailing  cus- 

94 


TOLERATION 

toms  and  laws  unless  conscience  imperatively  de- 
mands otherwise.  In  any  case,  however,  it  does 
not  necessarily  follow  that  the  majority  is  always 
in  the  right  and  the  minority  in  the  wrong,  espe- 
cially in  religious  matters. 


CHAPTER  XI 

OUT    OF    DOOR    RADIANCIES 

1  WANT  to  radiate  a  constant,  never-failing 
love  for  God's  great  out  of  doors  at  all  times,  in 
all  seasons,  under  all  conditions,  in  all  moods.  I 
want  to  understand  Nature,  to  be  one  with  her,  to 
feel  with  her,  expand  with  her,  be  reserved  with 
her,  be  exuberant  with  her.  I  want  to  realize  and 
radiate  my  kinship  with  everything  that  exists  in 
Nature;  I  am  a  part  of  this  great  whole,  all  of 
which  is  an  expression  of  a  great  thought  of  the 
great  God.  By  making  myself  a  part  of  Nature 
I  am  able  to  make  allies  of  all  the  forces  of  Na- 
ture, and  this  fact  I  want  to  radiate  with  power 
and  emphasis.  I  would  teach  both  by  word,  influ- 
ence, and  unconscious  radiation  that  we  are  able 
to  ally  ourselves  with  all  the  powers  of  God  as 
manifested  in  the  world  around  us.  I  have  learned 
that,  no  matter  for  whom  else  the  sun  may  shine, 
it  shines  expressly  for  me.  I  would  have  you 
learn  that  it  shines  expressly  for  you.  Whatever 
its  power  it  belongs  to  you.  Claim  it!  And  so 
with  all  the  forces.  The  winds  blow  for  you,  the 

96 


OUT    OF    DOOR    RADIANCIES 

flowers  bloom  for  you,  the  stars  glisten  for  you, 
the  fruits  grow  for  you,  the  trees  clothe  them- 
selves in  beauty  for  you,  the  birds  sing  for  you,  the 
sunsets  are  glorious  for  you,  and  the  sunrises 
gild  the  mountain  tops  with  reddish  gold  for  you, 
the  grass  grows  for  you,  the  creeks  sing,  the  rivers 
flow,  and  the  seas  roar  for  you ;  the  forces  of  good 
are  all  yours,  you  are  allies  with  them,  and  what 
they  are  you  are,  what  power  they  possess,  you 
possess. 

What  marvelous  vivification  comes  into  the 
body,  mind,  and  soul  of  man  when  he  realizes  this 
stupendous  fact.  He  no  longer  stands  alone  on 
the  earth.  God,  to  many  men  and  women,  is  far 
away,  unseen,  unknowable,  but  through  His  world 
in  Nature  we  can  touch  Him,  realize  Him,  learn 
to  know  Him,  and  while  we  are  learning  this  great- 
est of  great  facts  we  are  becoming  stronger,  more 
self-reliant,  more  full  of  power,  more  optimistic, 
more  sure  of  our  own  footing  on  earth. 

A  man  may  not  say  of  a  palace,  a  house,  a  gar- 
den, a  yacht,  a  fortune,  this,  these,  are  mine,  but 
we  may  each  and  all  —  the  vilest  drunkard,  the 
most  wretched  harlot,  the  near-suicide,  and  the 
nigh-insane,  as  well  as  the  poverty-stricken  and 
the  oppressed  —  say  and  know  "  the  sun  is  mine, 
the  stars,  the  rain,  the  sweetness  of  the  flowers,  the 
blessedness  of  God's  great  gift  of  life.  There- 
fore, I  am  not  poor,  I  am  not  forsaken,  I  am  not 
97 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

forgotten.  I  own  much.  I  will  take  and  utilize 
these  for  my  eternal  blessing." 

And  as  you  utilize  what  you  have  you  become 
both  capable  and  worthy  of  larger  things.  Only 
those  who  use  receive  more.  "  To  him  that  hath 
shall  be  given,"  and  these  are  the  things  that  all 
may  have  and  that  bless  more  abundantly  than 
any  other  things  mankind  may  possess. 

Most  of  us  go  through  life  missing  what  Nature 
has  for  us. 

In  one  of  Sienkiewicz's  books  he  makes  one  of 
his  characters  say  of  his  betrothed, 

I  gaze  on  Nature,  too,  and  feel  it;  but  she  shows  me 
things  which  I  should  not  notice  myself.  A  couple  of  days 
ago,  we  all  went  into  the  forest,  where  she  showed  me 
ferns  in  the  sun,  for  instance.  They  are  so  delicate !  She 
taught  me  also  that  the  trunks  of  pine-trees,  especially  in 
the  evening  light,  have  a  violet  tone.  She  opens  my  eyes 
to  colors  which  I  have  not  seen  hitherto,  and,  like  a  kind  of 
enchantress  going  through  the  forest,  discloses  new  worlds 
to  me. 

Reread  these  two  sentences :  "  She  shows  me 
things  which  I  should  not  notice  myself,"  and 
"  She  opens  my  eyes  and  discloses  new  worlds  to 
me."  The  world's  beauty  is  so  common  to  us  that 
we  forget  it.  Nothing  is  commoner  than  the  stars, 
yet  nothing  more  mysterious,  wonderful,  and  at- 
tractive ;  the  grass  is  so  common  that  we  trample 
it  under  foot,  yet  its  beauty,  its  varied  features 
will  repay  long  hours  of  study,  and  it  is  a  joy 

98 


OUT     OF     DOOR     RADIANCIES 

unspeakable  to  those  who  have  learned  to  love  it. 
It  is  in  the  common  things  that  we  should  look  for 
beauty,  for  lessons  in  color,  in  art,  in  criticism. 
One  of  the  great  students  and  teachers  of  art  of 
our  country  once  wrote  a  book  entitled  The  Gate 
Beautiful.  It  was  the  result  of  a  life  of  concen- 
trated study  upon  true  art.  Whence  comes  true 
art?  What  is  it?  How  shall  one  know  it  when 
he  sees  it  ?  The  result  of  all  Dr.  Stimson's  study, 
placed  in  that  wonderful  book,  summed  up  in  short 
is  —  study  Nature,  and  you  will  there  learn  more 
than  all  the  books  and  teachers  of  art  can  tell  you 
in  a  thousand  years.  The  author  shows  by  re- 
markable illustrations  spiral  vibrations  made  by 
the  voice,  the  natural  forms  of  mineralogy,  me- 
chanics, astronomy,  seeds,  fruit,  vegetables,  fish, 
reptiles,  insects,  birds,  beasts,  flowers,  and  human- 
ity. He  shows  the  exquisite  beauty  of  snow  crys- 
tals, and  of  the  minute  forms  of  earliest  life,  found 
in  the  diatoms.  He  sets  forth  the  beauty  of  leaf 
and  stem  in  the  commonest  trees,  in  shells,  etc., 
until  one  wonders  where  his  eyes  have  been,  where 
his  appreciation  of  beauty,  in  all  the  years  that 
these  things  have  not  appealed  to  him.  Nature  is 
so  flooded  with  beauty  that  more  than  one  lifetime 
will  be  necessary  for  any  one  man  to  discover  the 
half  of  it.  So  because  of  its  beauty  I  want  the 
men  and  women  who  come  in  contact  with  me  to 
feel  in  me  a  pulsing,  living,  active,  irresistible  love 

99 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

for  Nature  which  will  draw  them  out  into  it; 
arouse  in  them  an  insatiable  longing  to  see  and 
know,  to  feel  and  comprehend  more  of  the  rich 
beauty  so  freely  exposed  out  of  doors. 

The  out-of-doors,  too,  is  full  of  beauty  of  color 
as  well  as  beauty  in  form.  Oh,  the  sunrises  and 
sunsets  at  sea,  and  on  the  desert,  and  in  the  can- 
yons, and  on  the  mountain  heights,  and  on  the 
great  plains  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  and  Utah. 
What  colorist  of  earth  can  ever  equal  them? 
Titian?  Tintoretto?  Velasquez?  Turner?  La 
Farge?  Reid?  Why  waste  words  asking  the 
questions?  How  tame  is  Titian's  greatest  color- 
effects  side  by  side  with  a  sunrise  on  the  ocean, 
or  a  sunset  on  the  desert !  Bostonians  are  proud 
of  Reid's  magnificent  paintings  in  the  State  House. 
I  enjoy  them  myself  and  do  not  wonder  that  vis- 
itors are  struck  by  the  powerful  color-handling  of 
the  interesting  historical  subjects.  But  Mr.  Reid 
himself  is  not  so  foolish  as  to  imagine  that  his 
greatest  paintings  are  more  than  futile  attempts 
to  put  on  canvas  the  colors  his  eyes  have  seen,  his 
soul  has  felt,  out  in  the  open.  So,  for  color  I 
would  radiate  a  love  for  out-of-doors. 

And  I  would  radiate  a  love  for  all  of  out-of- 
doors  at  all  times.  Winter,  Summer,  Spring, 
Autumn,  in  rain  and  sunshine,  in  storm  and  calm, 
there  is  something  in  every  condition,  every  mood 
for  the  men  and  women  who  are  receptive.  When 
100 


OUT    OF     DOOR 

I  see  newly  born  infants  shut  out  from  the  pure 
air,  their  faces  covered,  "  lest  they  take  cold,"  I 
am  filled  with  amazement  at  people's  fear  of  out- 
of-doors.  My  babies  were  put  to  sleep  out-of- 
doors  half  an  hour  after  they  were  born.  The 
latest  and  most  approved  methods  of  treating  tu- 
berculosis is  to  make  those  afflicted  with  it  sleep 
out  of  doors.  There  are  camps  in  Michigan  and 
in  the  snowy  regions  of  New  York,  in  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  where,  throughout  the  Winter,  patients 
sleep  out  of  doors  with  the  best  of  results.  Be 
not  afraid.  Go  out  of  doors  as  does  the  Indian. 
Learn  of  him  and  be  wise.  He  is  a  believer  in  the 
virtue  of  the  outdoor  life,  not  as  an  occasional 
thing,  but  as  his  regular,  uniform  habit.  He  lives 
out  of  doors;  and  not  only  does  his  body  remain 
in  the  open,  but  his  mind,  his  soul,  are  ever  also 
there.  Except  in  the  very  cold  weather  his  house 
is  free  to  every  breeze  that  blows.  He  laughs  at 
"drafts."  "Catching  cold"  is  something  of 
which  he  knows  absolutely  nothing.  When  he 
learns  of  white  people  shutting  themselves  up  in 
houses  into  which  the  fresh,  pure,  free  air  of  the 
plains  and  deserts,  often  laden  with  the  healthful 
odors  of  the  pines,  firs,  and  balsams  of  the  forest, 
cannot  come,  he  shakes  his  head  at  the  folly,  and 
feels  as  one  would  if  he  saw  a  man  slamming  his 
door  in  the  face  of  his  best  friend.  Virtually  he 
sleeps  out  of  doors,  eats  out  of  doors,  works  out  of 
101 


LIVING     THE    RADIANT     LIFE 

doors.  When  the  women  make  their  baskets  and 
pottery,  it  is  always  out  of  doors,  and  their  best 
beadwork  is  always  done  in  the  open.  The  men 
make  their  bows  and  arrows,  dress  their  buckskin, 
make  their  moccasins  and  buckskin  clothes,  and 
perform  nearly  all  their  ceremonials  out-of-doors. 

I  wish  I  could  radiate  to  every  human  soul  what 
I  mean  by  having  one's  mind,  one's  soul,  live  in  the 
open.  Words  fail  to  convey  what  I  mean.  The 
sense  of  largeness,  of  expansion,  of  breadth,  depth, 
width,  and  height  are  as  tangible  in  soul-results  as 
in  those  of  body.  None  can  live  in  the  open  all 
the  time  and  become  sordid  money-grubbers.  If 
they  are  to  become  rich  they  do  it  in  a  large,  ex- 
pansive, virile  way  that  commands  respect.  It  is 
only  the  shut-in  man  that  can  add  to  his  millions 
by  cheese-paring  methods,  by  grinding  the  face  of 
the  poor,  by  counting  up  cents  and  nickels  and 
dimes  wrung  from  the  labor  of  the  children  of  the 
poor. 

Read  these  lines  from  a  wonderful  poem  of  the 
out-of-doors  by  Edwin  Markham,  and  see  how 
much  you  can  make  it  mean  to  yourself : 

I  ride  on  the  mountain  tops,  I  ride; 
I  have  found  my  life  and  am  satisfied. 

I  ride  on  the  hills,  I  forgive,  I  forget 
Life's  hoard  of  regret  — 
All  the  terror  and  pain 
Of  the  chafing  chain. 

108 


OUT     OF     DOOR     RADIANCIES 

Grind  on,  O  cities,  grind; 

I  leave  you  a  blur  behind. 
I  am  lifted  elate  —  the  skies  expand; 
Here  the  world's  heaped  gold  is  a  pile  of  sand. 
Let  them  weary  and  work  in  their  narrow  walls; 
I  ride  with  the  voices  of  waterfalls ! 

I  swing  on  as  one  in  a  dream  —  I  swing 
Down  the  airy  hollows,  I  shout,  I  sing! 
The  world  is  gone  like  an  empty  word! 
My  body's  a  bough  in  the  wind,  my  heart  a  bird ! 

Never  in  a  thousand  years  can  one  get  such 
pure,  sweet,  pulsing,  living  and  stay-long-with-you 
delights  as  these,  in  a  city.  Granted  there  are 
pleasures  in  the  ballroom,  and  they  are  doubtless 
great,  but  can  they  begin  to  compare  with  the  de- 
lights of  out-of-doors  ?  Languor  next  day,  ennui, 
jealousies,  heart-burnings,  gossiping,  cruel  slan- 
dering, ruination  of  health,  too  often  come  with 
these  city  pleasures.  Then,  too,  the  ballroom  in 
its  desirable  form  is  only  for  the  rich,  while  the 
poor  may  enjoy  everything  good  of  the  great  out- 
of-doors.  The  city  has  its  theaters,  operas,  con- 
certs, lectures,  and  the  like,  but  they  are  generally 
at  night,  compelling  people  to  be  out  when  they 
should  be  in  bed,  turning  day  into  night,  and  re- 
versing the  natural  order  of  things.  And  the  ar- 
tificial is  never  equal  to  the  real,  the  unnatural 
to  the  natural. 

Then,  too,  the  out-of-doors  is  such  a  teacher; 
and  not  a  teacher  of  the  arid,  formal,  dry,  em- 
103 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

balmed  knowledge,  but  the  real  living  facts.     As 
Robert  Louis,  the  well-beloved,  says: 

There  is  certainly  some  chill  and  arid  knowledge  to  be 
found  upon  the  summits  of  formal  and  laborious  science, 
but  it  is  all  round  about  you,  and  for  the  trouble  of  look- 
ing, that  you  will  acquire  the  warm  and  palpitating  facts 
of  life. 

Book  knowledge  can  never  equal  living  know- 
ledge. He  whose  mind  is  stored  with  what  he  has 
read  too  often  only  thinks  he  knows,  while  the  one 
whose  facts  are  gained  at  first  hand  from  the  real 
objects  themselves  knows  that  he  knows.  A  man 
in  a  factory  as  a  rule,  in  these  days  of  specializa- 
tion, is  only  a  cog  in  a  wheel,  a  part  of  a  great 
machine.  Be  he  a  woodworker,  he  does  not  make 
any  complete  piece  of  furniture.  He  saws  on  one 
part ;  another  on  another ;  a  third  on  still  another ; 
a  fourth,  who  knows  nothing  of  shaping  the  parts, 
assembles  the  whole,  and  a  fifth  puts  them  to- 
gether; a  sixth  sandpapers;  a  seventh  stains  or 
varnishes;  and  an  eighth  polishes  and  finishes. 
So  with  watchmaking  and  everything  used  by  hu- 
man hands.  Nobody,  nowadays,  has  the  joy  of 
"  doing  it  all." 

But  in  the  country  a  man  plows,  harrows,  sows 
the  seed  and  cultivates,  and  during  it  all  he  is  in 
the  open,  seeing  all  the  wonderful  phenomena  of 
Nature  pass  before  him  in  everchanging  panorama 
each  hour.  That  is,  of  course,  providing  he  has 
104 


OUT    OF    DOOR    RADIANCIES 

not  been  ground  down  by  too  many  hours  of  hard 
physical  labor  until  he  has  become  a  mere  "  brother 
to  the  ox,"  and  the  stolid  and  stunned  creature  so 
powerfully  described  by  Edwin  Markham  in  his 
Man  with  the  Hoe. 

Every  man  needs  something  both  of  the  city 
and  the  country.  Rubbing  up  against  his  kind 
sharpens  his  wits ;  often  makes  him  more  selfish 
and  indifferent  to  the  rights  and  needs  of  others ; 
and  again  prepares  him  more  thoroughly  to  enjoy 
what  the  country  offers.  So,  city  man,  with  all 
your  senses  sharpened  by  contact  with  mankind, 
go  out  into  the  country  to  get  your  soul  enlarged. 
For  Nature  is  the  great  soul  expander. 

Read  John  Muir's  Mountains  of  California, 
and  see  how  the  out-door-life  enlarged  him,  made 
him  bigger,  grander,  nobler  than  he  could  ever 
have  been  had  he  stayed  in  the  narrow  confines  of 
a  city's  walls.  In  one  chapter  he  tells  of  his  ex- 
perience in  a  storm  in  a  Sierra  forest.  Perched 
high  on  the  mountains  a  great  storm  swept  over 
the  range.  Most  men  would  have  remained  in- 
doors, afraid  of  the  fierceness  of  the  wind  and  the 
beating  of  the  rain.  Not  so  he !  There  were  ex- 
periences to  be  had  out  there  that  could  come  to 
him  in  no  other  way;  so  out  he  went.  After 
scrambling  through  underbrush,  climbing  hilly 
slopes,  until  his  blood  was  fairly  a-tingle  in  re- 
sponse to  the  power  of  the  storm,  watching  the 
105 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

swaying  of  the  trees,  hearing  the  crash,  every  few 
moments,  of  a  falling  tree,  he  finally  decided  to  see 
the  whole  thing  from  the  top  of  a  tree.  So  select- 
ing a  suitable  tree  he  climbed  to  its  topmost 
branches,  and  there,  swaying  to  and  fro  like  "  a 
bobolink  on  a  reed,"  he  watched  the  wind  playing 
with  the  gigantic  trees  and  the  tiny  leaves,  and 
listened  to  such  an  seolian  concert  as  few  men 
have  ever  dreamed  of. 

John  Muir's  experiences  and  development  are 
not  peculiar  to  him.  Most  men  who  live  the  larger 
out-of-door  life,  who  engage  in  out-of-door  occu- 
pations have  a  largeness  and  expansion  about 
them  that  is  stimulating  and  inspiring.  Read  the 
life  of  the  fishermen  —  the  Gloucester  Folk,  and 
the  Folk  of  all  the  shores  of  the  sea,  who  gain 
their  livelihood  by  battling  with  storms  and  cir- 
cumventing them.  What  brawny  arms  and  shoul- 
ders and  backs;  what  tremendous  power;  what 
deep  breaths  in  powerful  lungs!  See  the  pilots 
who  come  out  to  meet  the  transoceanic  steamers; 
what  brave,  powerful,  massive  men  they  are !  Or- 
dinary men  are  dwarfed  in  their  presence  —  not 
merely  physically,  but  mentally  and  spiritually. 
See  the  captains  of  these  same  great  steamers,  and 
all  sea-going  vessels,  and  the  very  sailors;  there 
is  a  strength  of  body  and  a  largeness,  an  openness 
of  disposition,  that  is  good  to  come  in  contact 
with.  Who  that  has  climbed  the  Swiss  mountains 
106 


OUT     OF     DOOR     RADIANCIES 

with  an  Alpine  guide  but  has  felt  the  strength 
and  power  developed  by  ages  of  conflict  with  snow- 
storms, avalanches,  and  other  great  Nature  forces. 
Even  the  loggers  in  the  forest  swing  their  axes 
or  handle  the  huge  logs  with  an  ease  and  power 
that  stagger  the  ordinary  city  man.  Think  how 
the  old  time  stage-drivers  used  to  handle  their  six- 
and  eight-horse  teams  with  ease  and  elegance, 
guiding  and  directing  their  movements  as  grace- 
fully as  a  grande  dame  promenades  in  her  ball- 
room. Who  has  not  been  thrilled  with  the  doings 
of  the  live-saving  service,  and  the  lighthouse  keep- 
ers? What  city  girl  could  have  dared  do  as  did 
Grace  Darling,  the  lighthouse  keeper's  daughter, 
who  insisted  upon  her  father  rowing  with  her  to 
rescue  a  shipwrecked  crew  in  the  face  of  a  howling 
storm?  What  delights  I  myself  have  enjoyed 
out  on  the  plains,  prairies,  and  foot-hills,  riding 
with  the  cowboys.  Well  do  I  remember  several 
rodeos  I  united  with  in  Nevada,  where  we  rode 
madly  after  the  wild  cattle  and  horses,  over  and 
through  the  sagebrush  at  break-neck  speed,  now 
dodging  to  the  right,  now  to  the  left,  now  jumping 
a  piece  of  brush  that  could  not  be  dodged.  We 
went  up  hill  like  the  wind,  and  then  started  down 
hill  at  equal  or  greater  speed,  and  once,  getting 
into  a  grove  of  trees,  I  had  to  learn  to  bend  down 
flat  on  the  horse's  back  to  avoid  being  swept  off. 
"  Let  your  horse  go  where  he  will.  He  under- 
107 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

stands  his  business,  and  you  don't,"  were  the  in- 
structions I  had  received,  and  well  it  was  that  I 
was  not  required  to  guide  my  animal.  I  had 
enough  to  do  to  keep  my  seat.  Talk  about  rough- 
riders  !  I  was  soon  a  rough-rider,  indeed.  And 
how  tired  out  and  weary  I  was  that  night,  but 
how  I  slept !  I  had  been  dyspeptic,  sleepless,  and 
anaemic.  Three  weeks  of  this  shook  me  up  so  that 
my  liver  worked  as  it  had  never  worked  in  my  his- 
tory before.  I  got  until  I  could  eat  and  digest 
anything,  and  my  sleep  was  sweet,  sound,  dream- 
less, and  refreshing.  Would  that  I  had  had  sense 
enough  then  and  there  to  resign  the  pastorate  of 
my  church ;  quit  being  an  indifferent  and  unhealthy 
parson;  become  a  cowboy  and  gain  health,  vim, 
vigor,  strength,  life. 

I  suppose  I  had  to  come  to  it  slowly,  but  come 
I  did  to  the  most  important  facts,  viz.:  that  I 
could  never  be  healthy  indoors,  and  that  I  must  live 
in  the  open.  And  as  I  got  out  more  my  intellect 
and  spirit  expanded  as  my  body  grew  healthier, 
and  I  began  to  learn  more  from  the  objects  around 
me  than  I  had  from  all  my  schooling,  all  my  books, 
and  all  my  theological  training  and  study. 

Nowadays  there  is  no  out-of-door  occupation 
that  does  not  appeal  to  me ;  a  ditch-digger,  a 
navvy  on  a  railroad,  a  roustabout  on  a  dock,  a 
deck-hand  on  a  steamer,  a  brakeman,  a  road 
mender,  a  plowman,  a  carter,  a  teamster  —  even 
108 


OUT     OF     DOOR     RADIANCIES 

these,  the  lowliest  of  the  out-of-door  callings,  show 
to  me  men  of  rugged  strength  that  delight  and 
appeal  to  me. 

How  one's  very  soul  thrills  in  sympathy  as  he 
thinks  of  the  marvelous  achievements  of  the  great 
explorers  —  all  of  them  men  of  the  out-of-doors ; 
Columbus,  Magellan,  Capt.  Cook,  Kane,  Sir  John 
Franklin,  Peary,  Sven  Hedin,  Capt.  Burnaby, 
Burton,  Livingstone,  Stanley,  Major  Powell,  and 
a  host  of  others.  How  the  mere  thought  of  them 
and  their  lives  radiates  the  very  spirit  of  energy, 
strength,  courage,  daring,  independence,  self-re- 
liance! In  their  physical  or  spiritual  presence 
you  feel  you  are  in  contact  with  an  entirely  differ- 
ent set  of  earth's  mortals  than  ordinary  men,  for 
they  radiate  unconsciously  the  largeness,  the  ex- 
pansiveness,  the  majesty  and  strength  of  the  vast 
out-of-doors. 

Rudyard  Kipling  in  his  Captains  Courageous 
fully  explains  what  I  mean  about  this  largeness 
and  nobleness  of  soul  that  come  from  the  out-of- 
door  life,  in  telling  of  the  fishermen  of  the  New 
England  coast.  In  his  vivid  English  he  pictures 
their  daily  life,  what  their  work  is,  how  they  have 
to  brave  the  perils  of  the  deep,  the  dangerous  fogs, 
the  uncertain  storms,  the  sudden  death  that  comes 
when  a  great  vessel  looms  through  the  fog  and  cuts 
them  down.  Yet  they  go  ahead  as  a  matter  of 
course.  Their  life  enlarges  their  faith  and  trust ; 
109 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

either  it  is  that  or  they  become  used  to  looking  in 
the  face  of  danger  and  death  and  then  calmly  con- 
tinue in  their  work.  No  man  does  this  without 
deepening  and  broadening  his  life. 

When  it  comes  to  gardeners  I  fairly  envy  them. 
Think  of  the  wondrous  life  that  is  theirs.  To 
learn  and  know  the  life-habits  of  plants  and  flow- 
ers, and  to  see  them  growing  from  tiny  seeds,  or 
slips,  or  cuttings  into  all  their  rich  and  perfect 
beauty.  I  never  knew  a  despondent  gardener. 
His  profession  forbids  it;  his  experience  rebukes 
it.  So  of  late  years,  in  my  crude  way,  I  have  been 
trying  to  become  a  gardener,  when  I  am  at  home 
and  have  time. 

What  an  unspeakable  joy  there  is  in  all  this 
work.  How  it  occupies  one's  brain  and  body,  and 
drives  away  all  despondency,  care,  blue-devils,  and 
worry.  Out  in  the  garden  I  am  a  king,  a  proud 
monarch,  robed  in  blue  flannel  shirt  and  overalls, 
my  scepter  a  spade,  and  my  right  to  rule  demon- 
strable by  my  strong  muscles,  steady  nerves, 
strong  lungs,  healthy  skin,  and  clear  eyes.  Who 
would  not  reign  in  such  a  realm? 

More  than  all  else  I  feel  when  living  this  life 
that  I  am  lifted  above  all  the  petty  meannesses  of 
men  and  women.  I  am  dealing  with  creative  forces 
—  things  direct  from  the  hands  of  God  —  sun- 
shine, air,  water,  soil,  growth,  development,  life. 
And  how  such  feelings  expand  the  soul! 
110 


OUT     OF     DOOR     RADIANCIES 

Then  I  begin  to  think  of  the  wonderful  work 
in  flowers,  fruits,  and  plants  performed  by  Hugo 
de  Vries  and  our  own  Luther  Burbank,  and  as  I 
recall  their  achievements  I  feel  the  opening  up  of 
a  new  realm  before  me.  Never  can  I  forget  the 
joy  of  a  couple  of  days  with  Burbank  at  his  home 
at  Santa  Rosa,  and  his  "  proving  grounds,"  at 
Sebastopol.  I  there  saw  his  winter  rhubarb,  and 
as  we  walked  along  we  came  to  his  cactus  patch. 
The  first  section  was  of  the  rude,  prickly  leaves  I 
was  so  familiar  with  on  the  desert;  the  next  sec- 
tion less  prickly  and  so  on,  until  at  last,  with  a 
frolic,  Mr.  Burbank  "  dived "  into  the  cactus, 
rubbed  his  face  and  ears  against  the  great  leaves 
and  demonstrated  them  free  from  every  vestige  of 
a  thorn. 

Then  we  saw  flowers  that  he  had  completely 
changed,  in  size,  color,  form,  and  odor,  and  when 
you  ask  how  it  was  all  done  he  declares  that  any 
man  or  woman  with  the  necessary  patience  and 
skill  (and  skill  comes  with  patience)  can  produce 
results  as  apparently  marvelous  as  his  own.  For 
the  marvel  is  apparent  and  not  real ;  it  is  nothing 
but  the  understanding  and  application  of  natural 
laws;  laws  that  Darwin  and  others  have  well  un- 
derstood and  enunciated. 

At  Sebastopol  I  had  the  joy  of  seeing  him  work 
in  the  selection  of  plum  trees.  Row  after  row  of 
young  bearing  plum  trees  stood  before  us.  With 
111 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

two  men  following  him,  one  with  black  strings,  and 
the  other  with  white,  he  began.  Picking  a  plum 
from  the  first  tree,  he  bit  into  it.  I  did  likewise. 
To  me  it  seemed  a  good  plum.  He  rapidly  com- 
mented upon:  1,  its  appearance,  shape,  etc.;  2, 
color;  3,  firmness  of  texture;  4,  flavor;  5,  sweet- 
ness. Then  he  did  the  same  with  the  tree :  its  ex- 
tent of  foliage,  shapeliness,,  etc.  All  these  things 
had  to  be  considered.  The  first  few  trees  he  took 
very  slowly  and  deliberately  in  order  that  I  might 
clearly  comprehend  what  he  was  after.  Then, 
almost  as  quickly  as  his  eye  fell  upon  a  tree,  he  had 
put  his  teeth  into  the  fruit,  his  trained  intellect 
had  decided  whether  the  tree  was  worth  keeping 
or  killing,  and  as  he  said  "  keep  "  or  "  kill,"  the 
attendants  tied  on  the  corresponding  white  or 
black  strings.  To  produce  the  plum  he  wanted 
he  assured  me  he  has  destroyed  over  a  million  trees. 

His  apple  trees  are  perfect  marvels.  Some  of 
them  bear  upwards  of  two  hundred  different  kinds 
of  apples,  and  he  says  it  is  comparatively  easy  to 
produce  an  apple  of  any  color,  texture,  size,  flavor, 
and  sweetness  desired. 

Think  what  Nature  has  taught  to  such  a  man. 
He  is  not  what  you  would  call  a  supereducated 
man  in  books ;  but  he  has  read  Nature  as  few  men 
in  the  history  of  the  world  have  done,  and  she  has 
revealed  many  of  her  most  intimate  secrets  to  him. 
And  as  you  talk  with  him  you  find  in  this  quiet, 


OUT    OF     DOOR     RADIANCIES 

unassuming,  sweet-spirited,  gentle-hearted  man  a 
breadth,  a  largeness,  a  sweep  of  soul  that  are  rare. 

And  Nature  gives  this  same  largeness  to  a 
woman  as  well  as  a  man.  Women  who  get  into 
the  bigness  of  the  out-of-doors  get  away  from 
feminine  pettinesses  just  as  surely  as  men  do  from 
their  narrownesses  and  prejudices.  I  have  two 
women  friends  in  California  (or  had,  until  one 
passed  on),  both  of  them  expert  and  scientific 
florists.  One  lived  at  San  Buena  Ventura,  and 
the  other  at  San  Diego.  The  names  of  Mrs. 
Theodosia  Shepard  and  Miss  Kate  Sessions  are 
known  throughout  the  world.  Both  women  deter- 
mined to  devote  their  lives  to  a  scientific  study, 
out  in  the  garden,  of  plant  life,  and  each  has  there- 
fore done  things,  achieved  results  that  have  made 
her  world-famed.  How  much  better  this,  than  to 
live  the  narrow,  contracted  life  of  most  women. 

Another  woman  friend,  Mrs.  Sarah  Plummer 
Lemmon,  wife  of  the  well-known  botanist,  and  her- 
self a  botanist  known  to  the  whole  scientific  world, 
for  years  accompanied  her  husband  in  his  expedi- 
tions throughout  the  wildest  parts  of  Arizona, 
New  Mexico,  California,  and  Mexico.  I  doubt 
whether  there  is  a  person  living  who  has  so  real 
and  intimate  a  knowledge  of  all  this  country  as 
has  this  brave  and  intrepid  woman,  who,  when 
Apaches  were  on  the  warpath,  calmly  and  stead- 
fastly sustained  her  husband  in  his  scientific  work. 
113 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

In  storms  and  perils,  in  danger  from  wild  animals 
and  wilder  men,  away  from  all  luxuries  and  com- 
forts and  often  deprived  of  what  most  people  call 
necessities,  this  woman  communed  with  Nature  and 
has  thereby  grown  into  a  large,  commanding,  pow- 
erful, all-embracing  soul,  as  much  above  the  aver- 
age woman  in  intellect  as  an  athlete  is  above  a 
baby. 

I  am  no  technical  botanist,  yet  I  have  had  pleas- 
ure untold  when  wandering  in  canyon,  mountain, 
plain,  forest,  seaside,  and  desert  in  seeking  to 
learn  all  I  could  of  the  flora  of  the  region.  When 
botanists  said  that  the  cereus  glganteus  —  the 
giant  suahuaro  —  was  not  to  be  found  in  Cali- 
fornia and  I  knew  I  had  seen  it  growing  on  the 
California  side  of  the  Colorado  River,  there  was 
great  pleasure  in  photographing  the  few  speci- 
mens I  knew  in  this  habitat  and  then  in  hunting 
for  more.  How  well  I  remember  one  day  climbing 
up  hill  and  down,  over  rocky  ridges  and  dangerous 
trails  and  places  where  there  were  no  trails  at  all, 
every  now  and  again  seeing  fresh  specimens,  m 
California,  of  this  cactus  "  that  did  not  grow  in 
California."  And  when,  at  last,  I  stood  on  a 
ridge,  looking  down  into  a  secluded  canyon,  where 
there  were  a  dozen  or  more  (which  I  photo- 
graphed), I  felt  as  if,  humbly  though  it  was,  I 
were  being  used  as  an  instrument  for  increasing  the 
botanical  knowledge  of  the  world. 
114* 


CHAPTER  XII 

RADIANCIES    OF    JOY,    INSPIRATION,    AND    SERENITY 

1  WANT  to  radiate  the  healthfulness  of  joy. 
Joy  is  the  sunshine  of  the  soul.  Let  it  shine.  If 
there  is  so  much  of  it  that  it  fills  the  soul,  it  makes 
of  it  a  luminous  body  that  must  radiate  light  and 
warmth  and  health  to  others.  The  joyous  man  is 
the  healthy  man,  and  he  that  has  health  should 
joy  to  give  it  to  others,  whenever  and  wherever  he 
can.  My  friend,  Marshall  P.  Wilder,  was  a  radi- 
ating center  of  joy  as  well  as  fun.  He  was  funny, 
but  he  was  more  —  he  was  joyous.  There  was  no 
enmity,  no  malice,  no  unkindness,  no  cruelty  in  his 
fun;  it  was  all  healthful,  kind,  sane,  and  joyous. 
A  little  girl  once  said  of  a  certain  man :  "  I 
like  that  man  because  he  always  shines  at  me." 
Don't  you  want  to  shine  and  make  glad  the  innoj 
cent  heart  of  a  child,  the  striving  heart  of  the 
young,  the  sorrowful  and  vexed  heart  of  the  mid- 
dle-aged, and  the  weary  heart  of  the  old?  Well 
did  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  say : 

A  happy  man  or  woman  is  a  better  thing  to  find  than 
a  five-pound  note.     He  or  she  is  a  radiating  focus  of  good 

115 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

will;  and  their  entrance  into  a  room  is  as  though  another 
candle  had  been  lighted. 

There  is  no  duty  we  so  much  underrate  as  the  duty  of 
being  happy.  By  being  happy,  we  sow  anonymous  benefits 
upon  the  world,  which  remain  unknown  even  to  ourselves, 
or  when  they  are  disclosed,  surprise  nobody  so  much  as  the 
benefactor. 

Make  the  most  of  your  happiness,  and  the  least 
of  your  sorrows.  Use  the  telescope  at  the  enlarg- 
ing end  for  the  former  and  at  the  reducing  end  for 
the  latter,  until  you  have  learned  what  most  of 
us  have  to  learn  —  how  foolish  and  wrong  it  is  to 
make  our  joys  mere  incidents  while  we  make  our 
sorrows  events. 

I  want  to  radiate  a  joy  in  the  little  things  of 
to-day.  Most  people  live  in  anticipation.  The 
things  of  to-day  are  not  enough.  It  is,  "  Oh,  to- 
morrow —  next  week  —  next  year  —  will  surely 
bring  me  my  heart's  desire !  "  Let  us  learn  that 
to-day  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  heart's  desire. 
Take  to-day  all  it  brings,  and  it  will  make  to-day 
so  full  that  you  will  have  no  care  for  the  joys  of 
anticipation.  Live  now,  so  intensely,  so  fully, 
that  life  to-day  will  be  compelled  to  deliver  up  all 
its  treasures  to-day.  Hence  every  day  becomes  a 
perfect  joy. 

I  want  to  radiate  inspiration.     I  do  not  believe 

the  idea  that  the  saints  of  old  who  wrote  "  the 

Bible,"  are  the  only  examples  of  inspiration.     God 

inspires  every  good  man  and  good  woman,  and  all 

116 


RADIANCIES     OF     JOY 

good  in  all  people  comes  from  Him,  for  He  is  the 
original  source. 

A  self-centered  life  is  a  selfish  life;  a  life  that 
gives  of  itself  freely  and  fully  to  all  with  whom  it 
comes  in  contact  is  a  life  of  inspiration  —  it  is  a 
radiating  center  of  inspiration.  It  inspires  to 
courage,  to  higher  endeavor,  to  larger  achieve- 
ment. I  need  all  this  for  myself,  but  I  also  long 
and  desire  to  inspire  it  in  others.  Many  a  life 
seems  to  have  inspiration  for  the  carrying  out  of 
its  own  dreams,  ambitions,  desires,  but  none  to 
give  away.  Yet  the  lives  we  touch  may  need  just 
the  impetus,  the  propelling  force  —  light  or  vigor- 
ous —  that  we  can  give  to  enable  the  fulfillment 
in  them  of  half  dormant  ambitions  for  good,  the 
attainment  of  noble  endeavor. 

What  would  become  of  the  chick  in  the  egg  if 
the  mother  hen  did  not  brood  over  it  ?  She  forgets 
her  own  desires  to  move  about  in  the  stronger  de- 
sire to  bring  into  active  being  the  hidden  lives 
within  the  eggs.  Let  us  "  brood  "  over  the  souls 
of  men  and  women,  young  men  and  maidens,  boys 
and  girls,  and  quicken  to  life  the  dormant  powers 
of  the  weak,  the  tender.  Aspirations  may  have 
begun  in  them  that  can  only  be  quickened  by 
warmth  and  love  from  outside.  Oh,  for  wisdom, 
as  well  as  love,  to  "  brood  "  aright. 

This  implies  a  reaching  out  to  others.  It  means 
an  ability  to  feel  even  the  hidden  or  only  half-felt 
117 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

thoughts  of  others,  and  love  and  sympathy  alone 
are  delicate  enough  instruments  to  thus  feel.  The 
seismograph,  that  registers  the  oscillations  of  the 
earth's  crust,  is  one  of  the  most  delicate  of  man- 
made  instruments,  yet  the  human  heart  that  would 
respond  unerringly  to  every  beginning  of  aspira- 
tion and  longing  for  good  in  every  other  human 
soul  must  be  ten  thousand  times  more  sensitive 
than  the  seismograph.  Such  a  sensitive  instru- 
ment let  each  seek  to  become.  We  should  hear 
the  faintest  beat  of  the  human  hearts  near  us  and 
try  to  inspire  those  faint  beats  until  they  are 
strong,  regular,  powerful,  certain. 

Lives  often  possess,  unknown  to  themselves,  the 
germ  cells  of  great  powers  and  lofty  ambitions 
that  will  never  be  developed  unless  some  outside 
influence  impregnates  and  vivifies  them  into  exist- 
ence. With  thousands  of  people  the  seeds  of  good 
in  their  souls  need  to  be  quickened  from  the  out- 
side, and  the  help,  the  food,  the  desire  to  feed, 
must  also  be  given  from  the  outside,  until  they  are 
born  and  nurtured  into  active,  self-reliant  exist- 
ence. To  be  this  outside  quickening  power  is  to 
be  a  radiant  source  of  inspiration. 

In  this  connection  I  have  found  that  every  life 
that  is  growing,  expanding,  enlarging,  is  a  stimu- 
lation to  every  other  life  to  grow,  expand,  enlarge. 
I  seek,  therefore,  to  radiate  growth  by  my  own 
growth.  By  being  something,  doing  something,  I 
118 


RADIANCIES     OF    JOY 

want  to  help  others  be  and  do.  Growth  is  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  but  unfortu- 
nately, men  and  women  are  far  from  being  natural. 
How  then  can  I  best  radiate  the  inspiration  for 
growth  in  them?  By  being  natural  myself  — 
throwing  off  the  artificialities,  the  restricting  and 
restraining  bands  that  prevent  the  best  of  myself 
from  coming  forth  —  by  being  real.  This  de- 
mands that  I  think  for  myself,  that  I  decide 
for  myself,  that  I  act  for  myself.  Once  get  into 
this  habit  and  growth  is  certain  and  sure.  The 
storms  may  beat  upon  such  a  life  but,  like  the 
sturdy  oak,  it  is  thrusting  its  roots  deeper  into  the 
soil  in  every  direction  —  it  is  living  for  itself  — 
and  storms  and  tempests  only  make  it  the  more 
sturdy  and  strong.  This,  in  its  turn,  quickens 
other  lives  to  growth,  to  self-thought,  self-de- 
cision, self-action.  Too  long  the  leaders  have 
tried  to  lull  the  power  of  thought  in  the  masses. 
The  church  has  said :  "  We  will  think  for  you  on 
matters  of  religion.  Accept  what  we  teach  or 
your  immortal  souls  will  be  imperiled."  The  bar 
and  bench  have  said :  "  In  matters  of  law  we  will 
decide  what  you  must  think  and  do.  If  you  differ 
from  us  your  acts  will  be  illegal."  The  colleges 
of  physicians  and  surgeons  have  said :  "  We  will 
think  for  you  in  matters  of  health.  If  you  differ 
from  us  your  bodies  will  become  diseased  and  die." 
The  schools  and  universities  have  said  about  every- 
119 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

thing :  "  Think  as  we  teach  you,  for  we  have  all 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  knowledge  will  die 
with  us,"  and  the  result  is  that  to  find  a  being  who 
dares  to  think  and  decide  and  act  upon  his  own 
thoughts  is  as  rare  almost  as  to  find  a  dodo. 
Thought  is  for  you ;  growth  is  for  you  as  well  as 
for  all  the  universe  of  God.  Teach  yourself  to 
think  for  yourself  as  naturally  and  unconsciously 
as  you  breathe  for  yourself.  Once  and  forever 
rise  up  in  your  manhood,  or  your  womanhood,  and 
say :  "  Henceforth  I  will  think,  and  decide,  and 
act  for  myself  without  reference  to  what  other 
people  think  or  say  or  do."  And  then  you  will 
begin  to  grow  as  you  never  grew  before. 

Doubtless  at  first  you  will  grow  "  scraggly," 
and  somewhat  wild.  But  time  and  experience  will 
prune  you.  Better  do  that  than  never  grow  at  all. 
It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  way  to  learn  to  grow 
is  by  growing.  We  learn  to  do  by  doing.  Do 
not  be  afraid  to  reach  out  for  growth  because  you 
don't  know  how.  If  you  reach  out,  and  grow,  you 
will  soon  learn  the  best  way  how. 

There  is  another  view-point  to  this  question  of 
growth.  We  have  within  ourselves  the  power  to 
quicken  or  retard  our  own  growth.  Too  many 
of  us  are  lazy,  physically,  mentally,  spiritually  — 
yes,  and  cowardly.  We  don't  want  the  trouble  of 
thinking  for  ourselves.  It  requires  energy  and 
courage.  It  is  so  much  easier  for  some  of  us  to 
120 


RADIANCIES     OF     JOY 

accept,  to  drift,  to  cast  off  all  responsibility.  But 
growth  cannot  so  come.  We  must  row  against 
the  tide  to  develop  our  muscles.  If  we  accept 
what  others  say  and  do  let  it  be  because  our  best 
judgment,  after  due  consideration  and  personal 
thought,  has  decided  that  it  is  the  wisest  and  best 
thing  for  us  to  do. 

Then,  too,  many  of  us  do  not  grow  because  we 
are  content  with  what  we  have.  The  hindrance  to 
life  of  smug  and  ignorant  contentment,  the  dwarf- 
ing power  of  self-complacent  assurance,  who  can 
tell?  This  must  be  shaken  out  of  every  mor- 
tal before  he  can  grow,  and  this  spirit  is  by  no 
means  found  in  the  ignorant  and  uneducated  alone. 
Boston  and  New  York,  Chicago  and  Minneapolis, 
are  as  full  of  it  as  Podunk  and  Milpitas,  Four 
Corners  and  Snigginsville.  Indeed  I  do  not  know 
but  that  there  is  more  of  it  per  capita  in  the  great 
centers  than  in  the  country  villages.  And  how 
it  retards  growth.  The  complacent,  correctly 
worded  and  phrased  Bostonian,  the  haughty  and 
self-assertive,  successful  New  Yorker,  is  each  as- 
sured that  he  has  all  there  is  of  good  to  have,  and 
that  no  good  thing  can  come  out  of  any  other 
place  than  his.  Yet  God  made  other  places  and 
speaks  to  other  people,  and  all  should  be  humble 
and  learn,  reverent  and  grow. 

Some  do  not  grow  because,  having  something, 
they  are  either  too  indifferent,  too  lazy,  too  cow- 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

ardly,  or  too  fearful  to  make  extra  exertion,  to 
reach  out  after,  to  strive  for  more  than  they  al- 
ready have.  The  man  who  hid  his  talent  in  a  nap- 
kin is  a  type  of  this  class.  Let  us  arouse  from 
our  indifference,  our  cowardice,  our  fearfulness, 
and  seek  to  become  something  larger,  better,  more 
useful  than  hitherto  we  have  been.  To  such  there 
is  no  growing  old.  Gray  hairs  may  come,  wrinkles 
may  seam  the  face,  yet  the  heart  is  ever  nourished 
from  the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth.  The  life  is 
ever  fresh  and  full  of  exuberance,  and  therefore  is 
a  radiating  center  of  youth  and  energy. 

The   older  one  becomes   in  years,   the   greater 
should  become  the  growth  of  the  mind  and  the  soul. 

Grow    old    along    with    me, 
The  best  is  yet  to  be; 

said  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  and  he  spoke  the  truth. 
What  radiating  centers  of  spiritual  growth  in 
others  are  old  men  and  old  women,  who  have 
learned  the  simple  secret  of  constant  growth  in 
themselves,  which  is  the  secret  of  perpetual  youth. 
Growth  means  fruitage,  growth  brings  flowers. 
The  fruit  and  flowers  of  life  that  nourish,  refresh, 
and  delight  others  come  only  to  those  who  grow. 
Roses  always  come  on  the  new  growth ;  fruit  buds 
best  on  the  new  branches ;  the  best  grapes  are  al- 
ways on  the  new  stems.  And  the  older  the  bush, 
the  tree,  the  vine,  the  more  beautiful,  the  more 
rare,  the  more  delicate  the  fruit  and  flowers. 


RADIANCIES     OF    JOY 

The  life  that  is  growing  is  constantly  searching 
for  nourishment.  The  leaves  of  the  tree  absorb 
from  the  sun  and  the  atmosphere,  the  roots  from 
the  soil.  If  the  sun  does  not  shine  directly  upon 
the  leaf  it  reaches  out,  turns  around,  struggles 
until  it  puts  itself  in  proper  relation  to  receive  all 
that  the  sun  has  to  give.  If  the  root  cannot  reach 
the  nutriment,  the  moisture,  it  stretches  and  grows 
up,  down,  around,  over,  under,  through  obstacles 
until  it  gains  that  which  it  needs-  for  life  and 
growth. 

Human  lives  are  like  trees.  They  must  turn 
leaves  to  the  sun,  send  out  rootlets  and  tendrils  in 
every  direction,  for  moisture  and  nourishment, 
searching  until  they  find,  and  demanding  until  they 
get  all  they  desire.  And  the  glory  of  this  search- 
ing and  demanding  by  the  human  soul  is  that  there 
is  a  whole  infinity  of  space  and  power,  living,  pal- 
pitant, energized  for  it  to  search  in.  If  it  search 
it  cannot  search  in  vain.  If  it  demand  it  must  re- 
ceive, and  receive  abundantly. 

Above  all  things,  and  in  all  things,  at  all  times 
and  under  all  circumstances  I  would  radiate  a 
calm  serenity.  There  is  a  rich  fullness  to  me  that 
is  wonderfully  significant  in  that  first  line  of  John 
Burroughs'  Waiting.  Look  at  it  and  let  it  sink 
in: 

Serene,  I  fold  my  hands  and  wait. 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Few  are  serene,  fewer  still  can  wait.  We  are  all 
in  a  hurry,  we  are  all  impatient,  we  are  easily 
ruffled.  How  rare  the  man  or  woman  of  self-poise 

—  the  being  who  has  full  command  of  his  soul, 
mind,  and  body.     Anger,  jealousy,  misunderstand- 
ing, backbiting,  lying,  slander,  hate,  praise,  blame 

—  all  alike  have  no  effect  in  disturbing  the  beauti- 
ful calmness  of  the  serene  of  soul,  who  are  affable 
alike  to  friend  and  foe,  helpful  alike  to  each,  sym- 
pathetic alike  to  each.     There  is  no  haughtiness 
in  serenity,  as  some  suppose,  though  there  is  much 
pride.     Yet  it  is  not  the  pride  of  conceit,  the  pride 
of  power,   of  possession,  of  superiority,  but  the 
wholesome,  joyous,  happy  sense  of  a  full-flowing 
life,  every  good  channel  of  which  is  healthily  full 

—  healthily   flowing  to   healthy   ends.     That,   to 
me,  is  serenity.     The  self-consciousness  that  "  all 
things  are  working  together  for  good,"  and  work- 
ing to  the  full.     There  is  no  walking  delegate  to 
dictate  the  length  of  the  hours  such  a  life  shall 
work,  or  live.     It  lives  for  the  very  joy  of  mere 
living,   and  living  means   working,   giving,   doing 
for  others,  more  than  for  self. 

I  can  see,  dream  of,  long  for,  anticipate  the  pos- 
session of,  some  such  serenity,  and  my  ideal  of 
what  it  is  and  my  reaching  after  it  is  what  I  would 
radiate,  though  as  yet  I  am  but  as  one  who  seeks 
after  rather  than  as  one  who  has  already  at- 
tained. 

124 


RADIANCIES     OF     JOY 

Personally  I  am  naturally  the  very  opposite  of 
serene.  Physically  I  used  to  be  easily  disturbed. 
A  whisper  in  an  audience  of  two  thousand  people 
would  distress  me  greatly,  and  render  me  intensely 
nervous.  I  have  many  a  time  "  called  people 
down,"  in  my  own  audiences  and  by  sheer  force  of 
will  compelled  silence,  and  when  at  concerts,  have 
asked  people  (not  always  either  gently  or  kindly) 
to  cease  their  rude  whisperings,  yet,  at  the  same 
time,  I  never  once  lost  my  calmness,  the  possession 
of  myself,  without  intense  annoyance.  I  longed 
to  be  able  to  suppress  the  whispers  without  a  rip- 
ple in  my  own  mind  or  soul,  by  the  sheer  force  of 
right,  kindliness,  courtesy,  serenity.  The  more  I 
possess  serenity  the  more  I  shall  radiate  it.  It  is 
a  priceless  boon,  to  be  desired  more  than  great 
wealth,  and,  when  possessed,  to  be  prized  and 
treasured  more  than  all  the  jewels  of  the  world. 


125 


CHAPTER  XIII 

RADIANCIES    OF    THE    WILL 

1  HERE  are  three  things  I  wish  to  radiate  as  to 
my  own  will.  We  speak  of  men  being  self-willed, 
strong-willed,  weak-willed,  and  the  like,  but  at  the 
outset  I  wish  to  radiate  my  desire  to  be  "  Divine- 
willed."  By  this  I  mean  I  wish  to  recognize  the 
world-wide  —  nay,  the  universe-wide  —  difference 
between  the  great,  all-powerful,  all-wise,  all-benefi- 
cent, all-harmonious  will  of  the  Great  Creator,  and 
the  oftentimes  foolish,  weak,  wavering,  irresponsi- 
ble, ignorant,  mistaken  will  of  the  human  being. 
Every  real  man  and  woman  wishes  his,  her,  life  to 
be  a  useful  life,  a  life  that  accomplishes  something, 
and  that  something  must  be  "  worth  while.5'  It  is 
essential,  however,  if  one  would  accomplish  this  that 
he  start  right.  Now,  here  is  the  crucial  question 
—  How  can  you  know  that  you  are  right?  The 
answer  to  this  question  is  what  I  would  put  into 
every  young  man's  and  young  woman's  heart  — 
into  every  boy's  and  girl's  heart  —  so  that,  at  the 
start,  he,  she,  may  be  sure  a  right  start  is  being 
made.  The  only  sure  way  is  to  drop  your  own 


RADIANCIES     OF     THE     WILL 

will  and  become  "  Divine-willed."  This  by  no 
means  signifies  that  you  become  a  nobody,  a 
cipher,  an  insignificant  ant  in  the  world.  It  is 
just  the  reverse.  It  is  allying  yourself  with  the 
right,  the  only  right,  the  perfect  right,  the  un- 
changeable right.  Suppose  the  case  that  a  man 
starts  out  in  life  with  the  determination  to  be  self- 
willed  about  the  multiplication  table.  He  insists 
upon  his  freedom,  his  individuality,  his  self-will, 
and  refuses  to  be  tied  to  any  table  made  by  any 
one  else,  be  that  one  God,  angel,  or  man.  Who 
cannot  see  that  such  a  man  is  a  fool?  It  is  im- 
possible to  reject,  to  "  buck  against  "  the  multipli- 
cation table.  Every  man,  sooner  or  later,  has  to 
swallow  it,  accept  it  wholly,  completely,  unre- 
servedly, live  by  it,  swear  by  it,  die  by  it,  and 
more  than  that  he  has  to  do  it  gladly,  willingly, 
or  it  can  never  be  a  real  part  of  himself.  If  he 
is  all  the  time  protesting  against  it,  and  declaring 
that  it  ought  to  be  changed  or  abolished,  or  not 
quite  so  dogmatic  in  its  assertions,  he  will  all  the 
time  be  worried,  distressed,  irritated,  because  it 
pays  no  attention  to  his  wishes.  Two  times  two 
make  four,  no  matter  who  kicks,  or  is  irritated,  or 
wishes  it  to  be  changed,  and  so  with  every  other 
statement  of  the  whole  table. 

What  I  am  getting  at  is  this,  that,  though  we 
may  not  always  see  it  at  first,  or  even  at  second 
or  third  sight,  the  moral  world  is  governed  by  a 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

multiplication  table  as  sure  and  certain,  as  un- 
changeable and  fixed  as  is  the  mathematical  world. 
And  it  is  the  acceptance  of  the  moral  multiplica- 
tion table  that  I  caU  being  "  Divine-Willed."  A 
man  may  live  for  years  swindling  his  neighbors 
and  giving  them  fourteen  ounces  for  a  pound,  and 
think  he  has  fooled  the  multiplication  table  as 
easily  as  he  has  fooled  his  customers,  but  the  rate 
never  changed;  it  was  sixteen  ounces  all  the  time. 
A  man  may  fool  his  neighbors  and  himself  in  re- 
gard to  the  moral  multiplication  table,  but  sooner 
or  later,  here  or  hereafter,  in  this  incarnation  or 
some  other,  he  will  have  to  learn  to  accept,  love, 
and  live  by  it  in  every  act,  thought,  and  word.  It 
cannot  be  any  other  —  there  is  no  other  door  — 
this  is  the  only  salvation.  This  is  accepting 
Christ  —  the  Truth,  the  Way,  the  Life,  living 
the  Life  He  lived,  filled  with  the  Divine-Will,  the 
Divine  Spirit,  that  filled  Him.  Whether  you  are 
a  gambler,  a  sport,  a  liar,  a  cheat,  a  Sunday- 
school  superintendent,  a  fool,  a  drunkard,  a  sena- 
tor, a  professor  of  religion,  an  agnostic,  a  wise 
man  or  a  mere  child  in  knowledge,  you  can  never 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  Joy,  Peace,  Blessedness,  that 
we  call  Heaven,  unless  you  conform  to  the  Divine 
Moral  Multiplication  Table.  This  is  what  I  am 
endeavoring  to  radiate  —  that  I  am  trying  to  set 
aside  my  imperfect  human  will,  which  sometimes 
kicks  against  the  unchangeable  and  immovable, 
128 


RADIANCIES    OF    THE    WILL 

and  accept  the  perfect,  complete,  and  unchange- 
able. 

But  you  ask:  How  am  I  to  know  this  moral 
multiplication  table?  Easy  enough.  Don't  try 
to  take  it  all  in  at  once.  Begin  at  the  beginning. 
Learn  the  "  twos "  first.  Twice  one  are  two, 
twice  two  are  four,  twice  three  are  six,  and  so  on. 
Start  on  the  Ten  Commandments.  Master  and 
live  them.  Then  absorb  the  Golden  Rule.  Then 
try  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

There's  enough  to  keep  you  busy  for  a  few  days, 
anyhow.  But  I  suppose  some  of  you  will  say  you 
can't  do  it.  Nonsense !  You've  got  to  do  it,  and 
you  won't  really  live  until  you  do.  You  can't 
dodge  the  multiplication  table ;  nor  can  you  dodge 
these.  There  is  no  escape.  Divinity  never  made 
any  man  or  any  woman  who  could  get  away  from 
them.  Creeds,  church  dogmas,  men's  ideas  about 
religion  or  what  they  call  religion  may  be  true, 
or  may  not  be  true,  but  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  life  of  the  Spirit  always  have  existed,  always 
wiU  exist,  and  every  man,  sooner  or  later,  must 
come  into  perfect  harmony  with  them.  This  is 
what  I  want  to  radiate  —  my  desire  that  I  should 
become  Divine-willed  and  that  every  one  else  should 
be  the  same  —  quick,  soon,  now. 

Then,  having  started  right,  one  may  have  more 
confidence  and  assurance  in  taking  the  next  step, 
which  is  the  second  thing  connected  with  the  will 
129 


LIVING    THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

that  I  would  radiate,  viz.:  I  will  to  be  good  for 
something.  What  is  the  purpose,  the  object  of 
life?  What  are  we  here  for?  To  eat  and  drink, 
sleep  and  satisfy  our  appetites  and  then  die  like 
other  mere  animals  who  do  the  same  thing?  I 
don't  believe  it.  I  never  did.  As  Browning  puts 
it,  a  spark  has  disturbed  my  clod,  and  now  I  am 
discontented  to  remain  a  clod  —  a  mere  brute 
beast,  living,  as  does  the  hog,  merely  for  the  satis- 
faction of  my  physical  senses.  I  feel  higher, 
nobler,  worthier  aspirations  within  me.  John 
Muir,  the  great  California  Nature-lover,  scientist, 
and  poet,  wrote  when  he  was  twenty-seven  years 
old  a  letter  in  which  he  said : 

A  lifetime  is  so  little  a  time  that  we  die  ere  we  get 
ready  to  live.  I  would  like  to  go  to  college,  but  then  I  have 
to  say  to  myself  "you  will  die  ere  you  can  do  anything 
else."  I  should  like  to  invent  useful  machinery,  but  it  comes 
"you  do  not  wish  to  spend  your  lifetime  among  machines 
and  you  will  die  ere  you  can  do  anything  else."  I  should 
like  to  study  medicine  that  I  might  do  my  part  in  lessen- 
ing human  misery,  but  again  it  comes  "  you  will  die  ere  you 
are  ready,  or  able  to  do  so."  How  intensely  I  desire  to  be  a 
Humboldt,  but  again  the  chilling  answer  is  reiterated.  But 
could  we  live  a  million  years  then  how  delightful  to 
spend  in  perfect  contentment  so  many  thousand  years  in 
quiet  study  in  college,  so  many  amid  the  grateful  din  of 
machines,  so  many  among  human  pain,  so  many  thousands 
in  the  sweet  study  of  Nature  among  the  dingles  and  dells 
of  Scotland,  and  all  the  other  less  important  parts  of  our 
world. 

130 


RADIANCIES     OF    THE    WILL 

Here  were  four  noble  and  beautiful  aspirations. 
1.  To  go  to  college  and  learn  more.  2.  To  invent 
useful  machinery.  3.  To  study  medicine  that  he 
might  lessen  human  misery.  4*.  To  be  a  Hum- 
boldt  and  explore  the  world  for  the  enlightenment 
of  mankind. 

What  do  you  want  to  be? 

To  go  to  college  to  have  a  good  time  (!)  —  save 
the  mark  —  as  some  students  do  ?  I  was  once  rid- 
ing on  a  railway  train  going  to  Boston,  and  at 
New  Haven  twenty-seven  young  students  got  on 
board  and  every  one  drunk.  Do  you  think  Muir 
had  anything  of  that  kind  in  mind  when  he  said 
he  wanted  to  go  to  college?  At  one  of  the  great 
universities  of  the  West  I  was  present  when  the 
students  made  a  great  uproar  because  the  faculty 
had  prohibited  beer-wagons  from  coming  upon  the 
campus  to  deliver  their  wares  at  the  "  frat " 
houses.  I  have  seen  university  "  men  "  celebrat- 
ing some  baseball  or  other  victory  when  the  cele- 
bration has  taken  the  form  of  a  drunken  and  sen- 
sual orgy.  Can  you  imagine  a  man  like  Muir  ever 
having  wanted  to  engage  in  such  a  disgraceful  and 
degrading  scene? 

Muir  started  out  right.  He  began  by  seeking 
to  be  "  Divine-willed,"  and  then  by  willing  to  be 
"  good  for  something." 

A  friend  of  mine,  who  radiates  love  and  helpful- 
131 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

ness  to  every  human  being  no  matter  how  low  and 
degraded,  once  helped  a  poor,  ugly,  besotted 
son  of  the  gutter,  who  had  sunk  about  as  low 
as  he  possibly  could  sink.  One  day  as  he  sat 
on  his  piazza  enjoying  the  beautiful  calm  of  a 
glorious  spring  afternoon  he  saw  his  protege  ap- 
proaching. Giving  him  a  glad  welcome  the  two 
were  soon  in'  conversation  and  the  gutter-waif 
finally  expressed  his  thanks  for  the  help  and  en- 
couragement he  had  received,  and,  as  is  natural 
with  every  reaUy  awakened  soul,  wanted  to  do 
something  in  return  for  what  he  felt  my  friend  had 
done  for  him.  In  vain  the  helper  of  men  pro- 
tested there  was  nothing  he  wished  to  have  done, 
but  the  one  who  had  been  helped  kept  on  insisting 
that  he  must  do  something.  He  said,  "  I  not  only 
want  to  be  good,  but  I  want  to  be  good  for  some- 
thing. Now,  what  can  I  do  ?  " 

"  Well,"  at  last  said  my  friend,  "  since  you  must 
do  something,  go  out  and  find  somebody  worse  off, 
lower  down,  more  needy  than  you  were  when  you 
first  came  to  me,  and  help  him." 

As  he  went  away  my  friend  settled  down  to  an 
afternoon's  study  and  enjoyment  of  his  books,  and 
of  Nature,  but  within  an  hour  his  protege  re- 
turned wearing  a  smile  that  reached  almost  from 
ear  to  ear.  As  he  entered  the  gate  he  called  out: 
"  I've  got  him !  I've  got  him !  " 

"Got  who?" 


RADIANCIES     OF     THE     WILL 

"  Why,  the  man  you  sent  me  for !  " 

"What  man?" 

"  The  man  you  told  me  to  go  and  find  and  help. 
I've  found  him,  and  I  thought  I  couldn't  help  him 
better  than  by  bringing  him  to  you." 

"Where  is  he?" 

"  He's  waiting  out  here  by  the  barn,  for  I 
couldn't  persuade  him  to  come  up  until  I  had  first 
seen  and  told  you." 

"  Bring  him  along!  " 

As  the  two  derelicts  returned,  the  one  towing 
the  other  up  the  walk,  my  friend  said  the  sight 
of  the  second  vagabond  and  outcast  was  almost 
too  much  for  him.  He  was  not  only  ragged  and 
filthy,  but  thin  to  emaciation,  with  that  horrible 
look  of  long  continued  debauching  degradation. 
The  principal  feature  about  him  was  his  nose  — 
the  large,  red,  pimply  nose  of  the  habitual  drunk- 
ard. Almost  instinctively  the  lower  human  in  my 
friend  asserted  itself.  It  rebelled  against  having 
anything  to  do  with  so  vile-looking  and  disgusting 
a  wretch.  "What's  the  use?"  he  exclaimed,  al- 
most aloud. 

Then,  suddenly,  these  thoughts  came :  "  Inas- 
much as  ye  did  it  unto  the  least  of  these  my  breth- 
ren ye  did  it  unto  me."  "  This  man  is  as  much  a 
child  of  God  as  I  am.  The  real  man  in  him  is  as 
Godlike  as  I.  He  is  my  brother.  We  are  both 
sons  of  God."  "And,"  said  he,  "I  instantly 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

arose  and  went  to  meet  him,  with  outstretched 
hand  of  cordial  welcome." 

To  shorten  the  story  I  can  only  relate  how, 
after  he  had  had  a  hearty  meal  and  a  long  conver- 
sation, the  outcast  finally  poured  out  his  soul  to 
the  man  who  had  met  him  as  a  brother. 

"  I  was  not  always  what  you  now  see  me.  I 
was  in  a  good  position,  honored,  respected.  Had 
a  beautiful  family,  a  good  home,  was  the  superin- 
tendent of  a  Sunday  School,  the  leader  of  a  church 
choir,  and  happy  in  my  home,  my  church,  my 
friends.  But  I  was  tempted  and  fell.  I  ran  away 
from  home  and  all  my  responsibilities,  and  went 
on  falling  lower  and  lower,  until  this  very  morning 
I  vowed  that  the  next  fall  would  be  into  the  river 
or  a  suicide's  grave.  But  God  must  have  meant 
me  for  something  or  He  would  not  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  get  me  here  this  morning.  I'm  going 
to  try  to  rise." 

With  cheering  words  he  was  heartily  and  sin- 
cerely encouraged,  with  neither  rebukes  nor  cant. 
As  he  rose  to  go,  he  said,  "  What  can  I  do  for  you 
to  show  my  gratitude  for  what  you  have  done  for 
me  ?  "  and  he  would  not  take  "  No  "  for  an  an- 
swer. He  was  finally  told  he  might  mow  the  lawn 
if  he  chose,  and  in  telling  the  story,  my  friend  said, 
with  tears  in  his  eyes :  "  He  was  so  sincere  that 
he  went  over  it  four  times.  He  really  seemed  to 
have  shaved,  instead  of  mowed  it."  He  was  then 
134 


RADIANCIES     OF     THE     WILL 

allowed  to  take  a  bath,  and  my  friend  fitted  him 
out  as  well  as  he  could  with  an  old  suit  of  cloth- 
ing. In  the  meantime  a  couple  of  hundred  friends 
who  had  been  invited  for  an  evening  open-air  social 
chat  and  singing  began  to  arrive.  The  organ  was 
brought  out  from  the  parlor,  one  of  the  number 
began  to  play,  and  then  my  friend  called  for  a  vol- 
unteer choir  to  come  and  surround  the  organ  to 
lead  the  singing.  To  his  great  surprise  the  bathed 
and  reclothed  outcast  gently  sidled  up  with  the 
rest.  Some  of  the  elegantly  dressed  ladies  looked 
upon  him  with  suspicion  and  some  fear,  which, 
however,  dropped  away  in  great  measure,  as  he 
began  to  sing.  For,  strange  to  say,  though  he 
afterwards  declared  he  had  not  sung  a  note  for 
several  years,  the  assertion  of  the  purpose  to  live 
a  new  and  clean  life,  seemed  not  only  to  bring  back 
the  desire  to  sing,  but  actually  gave  him  back  his 
voice.  His  rich  clear  tenor  soared  sweetly  and 
without  effort  over  the  voices  of  the  others  and 
then  blended  perfectly  with  them  in  glorious  har- 
mony. 

A  week  later,  when  the  friends  came,  he  was 
there  again,  and  the  short  seven  days  of  new  re- 
solve and  high  endeavor  had  so  changed  him  in  ap- 
pearance that  no  one  knew  him  again.  A  j  ob  had 
been  found  for  him,  and  this  was  done  in  a  remark- 
able way.  Without  seeing  him,  a  gentleman,  filled 
with  the  helpful  spirit,  and  desirous  of  being  good 
1S5 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

"  for  something,"  at  my  friend's  request  interested 
himself  in  finding  him  occupation.  His  capacity 
was  so  quickly  proven  that  he  was  put  into  a 
responsible  position  where  a  two-thousand-dollar 
bond  was  required,  which  he  supplied.  He  worked 
so  thoroughly  and  efficiently  that  he  was  soon  pro- 
moted, and  ere  many  months  had  gone  by  his  fam- 
ily, so  long  separated  from  him,  was  with  him  in 
happiness  and  content.  Before  a  year  of  service 
he  gained  the  special  reward  of  $1,000  given  each 
year  by  the  firm  that  employed  him  for  the  highest 
general  efficiency  shown  in  any  department,  and  is 
to-day  honored,  respected,  back  again  in  the  high 
estate  from  which  he  had  fallen,  but  a  far  wiser, 
nobler,  and  better  man. 

Through  tribulation  and  sorrow,  pain  and  woe, 
wretchedness  and  despair,  sin  and  its  consequences 
he  had  learned  the  lesson,  that  you  cannot  shirk 
the  moral  multiplication  table  —  that  there  is  no 
short  cut  to  goodness,  except  to  accept  at  once, 
instead  of  later,  the  will  of  the  Divine. 

Go  back  for  a  few  moments  to  the  first  outcast, 
who  brought  this  second  one  to  my  friend.  Had 
he  gone  away  with  the  thought  that  now  he  must 
make  some  money,  he  must  take  care  of  himself 
first,  the  second  man  might  have  filled  a  suicide's 
grave.  He  started  out  right  —  to  be  Divine- 
willed  —  to  be  unselfish,  to  be  helpful  to  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  those  worse  off  than  himseii. 
136 


RADIANCIES     OF     THE     WILL 

Muir  didn't  want  to  study  medicine  to  become  a 
great  physician  for  the  purpose  of  making  money, 
but  to  relieve  the  pain  of  unfortunate  sufferers. 
He  willed  to  be  good  "  for  something."  This  is 
the  spirit,  the  life,  I  would  radiate  on  every  hand, 
every  day.  I  do  not  mean  that  all  endeavor  for 
self -improvement,  self-culture,  self-benefit  is  unde- 
sirable. By  no  means.  But  the  nearer  it  ap- 
proximates to  the  unselfish  ideal,  the  better  it  will 
be.  When  Walt  Whitman  was  a  young  man,  he 
was  a  house-builder.  He  happened  to  strike  a 
"  building  boom,"  and  made  money  so  fast  that, 
said  he,  "  I  was  in  danger  of  becoming  rich." 
And  he  decided  to  go  and  be  an  unpaid  nurse  in 
the  Union  Army,  rather  than  spoil  himself  by  be- 
coming rich.  To  gain  riches  is  good  as  far  as  it 
goes  —  but  it  goes  a  very  short  way  in  the  road 
to  manhood,  character,  nobleness  of  life.  So 
whatever  you  will  to  do  and  be,  put  a  high  ideal 
before  you,  something  immeasurably  better  than 
mere  money-getting.  Make  your  profession  a 
means  of  grace,  of  character-building,  of  enabling 
you  to  benefit  and  bless  the  world.  Mere  financial 
success  can  easily  be  attained,  but  you  will  surely 
not  be  content  with  that.  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a 
star,  and  soar  upwards.  Aim  at  the  high  things. 
Will  to  do  great,  noble,  beneficent  things  and  that 
will  be  willing  to  be  good  "  for  something." 

The  third  thing  in  connection  with  the  human 
137 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

will  that  I  wish  to  radiate  is  what  I  might  term 
"  the  insistence  of  the  human  will."  After  I  have 
willed  to  be  "  Divine-willed,"  and  to  "  will  to 
achieve  a  high  and  noble  purpose,"  I  want  to  com- 
pel my  will  to  keep  on  willing  that  which  I  have 
already  willed.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  will 
to  do,  or  be,  something,  but  alas !  how  far  short 
some  of  us  come  from  attaining  that  which  we  have 
willed  to  be.  When  Jesus  sent  out  His  disciples 
He  gave  them  many  warnings,  much  encourage- 
ment, informed  them  of  the  difficulties  they  would 
encounter,  and  then  incited  them  to  persistence  of 
endeavor  by  assuring  them  that  "  He  that  en- 
dureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved."  It  is  this 
thought  of  "  endurance,"  or  "  persistence  "  that  I 
would  ever  radiate.  I  have  set  before  me  an  aim, 
an  object,  worthy  to  be  achieved.  Though  it  may 
be  difficult  to  attain,  I  will  to  keep  on  willing  until 
it  is  attained. 

A  short  time  ago  I  watched  the  students  at  the 
Physical  Culture  Training  School,  in  Chicago. 
It  gives  me  a  good  illustration  of  what  I  would 
ever  radiate. 

I  saw  the  leader  of  one  of  the  classes  do  a  par- 
ticular act,  and  then  the  students,  one  after  an- 
other, tried  to  follow  the  leader  in  doing  that 
thing.  Some  of  the  men  who  tried,  willed  to  do  it 
all  right,  but  they  did  not  succeed.  Many  times 
a  man  wills  to  do  a  thing  when  he  does  not  seem 
138 


RADIANCIES     OF    THE    WILL 

competent,  but  the  real  man  keeps  on  until  he 
makes  himself  competent.  So  with  some  of  these. 
They  went  back  and  tried  again  —  and  went  back 
and  tried  again,  and  the  men  who  willed  and  then 
kept  at  it  until  they  became  competent  were  the 
ones  that  achieved. 

One  of  the  great  lessons  of  all  life  is,  not  merely 
to  learn  to  will  —  that  is  easy  enough  —  but  to 
insist  upon  the  will  keeping  at  it  until  we  accom- 
plish what  we  have  determined  to  do.  We  "  will  " 
every  day  to  do  things,  and  yet  we  do  not  do  them. 
We  say,  "  I  am  going  to  do  this ;  I  am  going  to 
do  that ;  or  the  other."  We  start  out  in  life  and 
we  have  all  kinds  of  ambitions  and  aspirations  be- 
fore us,  and  we  say,  "  This  is  going  to  be  my 
achievement;  I  intend  to  accomplish  this  thing." 
But  we  get  to  be  twenty-five  —  thirty  years  of  age, 
and  we  have  not  achieved  —  that  is,  the  great  mass 
of  people  have  not. 

Why? 

Because  we  have  not  learned  this  lesson  of  the 
Insistence  of  the  Human  Will.  We  have  deter- 
mined to  do  a  thing  and  then  we  have  not  had  the 
power  or  the  courage  or  the  determination  or  the 
endurance  to  keep  on  willing  until  the  thing  desired 
was  achieved. 

Let  us  suppose  a  case :  A  man  starts  in  a  race ; 
he  is  on  the  ground  ready  to  spring  forward  at 
the  firing  of  the  pistol.  The  moment  the  pistol  is 
139 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

fired  he  makes  his  forward  bound  and  goes  ahead 
as  hard  as  he  can.  Is  a  good  start  all  that  is 
needed?  I  picked  up  a  picture  recently  of  a  run- 
ner who  was  coming  to  the  end  of  his  race.  His 
face  revealed  clearly  what  a  struggle  he  was  hav- 
ing. His  mouth  was  wide  open,  and  he  was  labor- 
ing to  the  very  extremity  of  his  strength  and 
power ;  he  was  "  enduring  to  the  end."  He  made  a 
good  start,  but  now  at  the  latter  part  of  the  j  our- 
ney  the  race  was  more  difficult ;  it  was  almost  dan- 
gerous because  he  was  panting  so  hard  he  could 
scarcely  get  his  breath.  The  whole  face,  the  whole 
body,  seemed  in  pain  and  distress;  but  he  was 
enduring;  he  was  going  on.  It  is  the  man  who 
not  only  makes  the  start,  but  lie  who  endures  that 
wins  the  race. 

It  is  not  those  who  start  in  with  the  greatest 
hope,  and  faith,  and  energy,  and  courage,  but  "  He 
that  shall  endure  to  the  end  shall  be  saved."  It  is 
the  enduring  to  the  end.  Hence  let  me  urge  upon 
you  the  speedy  learning  of  this  important  lesson 
of  life.  After  you  have  willed  to  do  a  good  thing 
put  your  purpose  before  you ;  keep  it  clearly,  posi- 
tively in  sight  all  the  time ;  then,  every  day  and 
every  hour,  resolve  to  do  that  which  you  have 
determined  to  do;  in  other  words,  insist  that  you 
do  what  you  have  willed  to  do. 

I  was  once  very  much  interested  in  watching 
Bernarr  Macfadden,  the  editor  of  Physical  Culture 


RADIANCIES     OF    THE     WILL 

magazine.  I  was  favored  with  opportunities  for 
coming  in  close  touch  with  him.  The  way  he  in- 
sists that  his  will  shall  endure;  the  way  he  takes 
himself  by  the  throat,  as  it  were,  and  insists,  is 
most  interesting  to  me.  One  day  I  started  out 
with  him  for  a  walk.  He  was  quietly  and  easily 
getting  himself  in  training  so  that  he  could  walk 
fifty  miles  and  be  fresh  and  vigorous  enough  at  the 
end  of  the  walk  so  that  he  could  give  a  lecture. 
Certainly  it  is  a  delightful  and  a  profitable  thing  to 
be  able  to  walk  fifty  miles  without  exhausting 
fatigue.  We  started  out  together,  but  after  walk- 
ing twelve  miles  I  felt  weary,  and  returned.  But 
he  went  on,  and  when  he  returned  that  night  I 
found  he  had  walked  thirty-seven  miles.  Though 
he  was  doing  all  his  regular  and  arduous  work,  he 
was  quietly  insisting  on  these  long  walks,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  he  would  accomplish  his  fifty  miles 
daily  with  comparative  ease.  He  has  mastered 
the  idea  — "  The  Insistence  of  the  Human  Will." 
Take  an  inventor.  No  man  ever  invents  any- 
thing unless  he  insists  day  after  day,  in  spite  of 
discouragements,  in  spite  of  failures,  in  spite  of 
opposition,  sometimes  in  spite  of  the  stealings  of 
people  who  would  rob  him  of  what  he  has  already 
accomplished.  The  man  who  has  the  real  desire 
to  be  an  inventor  keeps  on  and  on,  compelling  his 
will  to  rewill  what  he  has  already  willed,  and  I 
could  fill  these  pages  with  the  life  stories  of  men 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

who  have  determined,  and  of  women  who  have  de- 
termined, and  who  have  achieved  because  they  have 
learned  this  lesson  of  the  insistence  of  the  will. 

I  once  had  the  pleasure  of  talking  with  Thomas 
A.  Edison,  in  his  laboratory,  in  Orange,  N.  J.  I 
said,  pointing  to  a  mass  of  interesting  looking  ma- 
terials :  "  What  is  this,  Mr.  Edison?  "  He  said, 
"  Oh,  I  have  been  working  for  thirty  years  on  that 
thing." 

"  How  are  you  getting  along  with  it?  " 

He  replied,  "  Well,  sometimes  I  think  we  are 
making  progress,  and  then  again  I  think  we  are 
not,  but  the  only  way  we  can  achieve  is  by  keeping 
everlastingly  at  it,  and  when  I  can't  work,  I  set  my 
men  to  work  on  it,  and  we  are  slowly  getting 
results." 

And  so  Mr.  Edison  every  once  in  awhile  astounds 
the  world  with  some  marvelous  achievement.  Peo- 
ple suppose  he  stumbles  on  it  —  that  he  discovers 
it  in  a  moment,  and  perhaps  he  does,  but  that  mo- 
ment was  made  possible  by  the  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  moments  that  were  as  steps  he  had 
taken  leading  up  to  the  place  where  the  vision 
burst  upon  him.  Do  you  see  the  thought?  It  is 
the  Insistence  of  the  Human  Will  that  compels 
achievement.  It  is  the  man  that  never  lets  up  that 
gains  the  reward. 

Fifty  years  ago  a  man  named  Judah  set  out  to 
survey  a  railroad  across  the  great  Sierra  Nevada 


RADIANCIES     OF    THE    WILL 

range  of  mountains,  that  vast  barrier  that  seems 
to  separate  California  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 
The  people  practically  said,  "  You  are  a  fool  to 
think  of  such  a  thing,"  but  he  calmly  replied :  "  I 
know  I  can  put  a  road  through ;  I  am  going  to  try 
it  anyhow."  So  he  began  to  climb  those  mountain 
heights.  He  threaded  the  passes  one  by  one.  He 
took  his  men  and  they  worked  day  after  day,  week 
after  week,  month  after  month,  upon  what  seemed 
to  be  an  impossibility. 

What  was  the  result?  He  kept  at  it  until  he 
achieved.  He  made  his  plans  and  made  them  so 
well  that  he  ultimately  succeeded  in  convincing  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  the  United  States 
Senate  that  such  a  railroad  was  possible. 

Then  four  men,  Huntington,  Crocker,  Stanford, 
and  Hopkins,  determined  to  build  the  road  that  he 
had  surveyed.  Again  the  pessimists  said :  "  It  is 
impossible ;  you  will  never  raise  the  money  to  build 
a  railroad  over  the  Sierra  Nevadas."  But  the 
four  men  worked  away,  and  little  by  little  got  the 
money.  As  they  built  they  were  harassed  on  every 
hand.  Labor  troubles  in  those  days  were  terrible. 
The  President  of  the  company  said,  "  I  don't  know 
what  we  are  going  to  do."  Crocker,  the  man  who 
had  undertaken  to  see  after  the  actual  building 
of  the  road,  said :  "  I  know  what  I  am  going  to 
do ;  I  am  going  to  get  help  to  build  that  railroad 
somewhere."  And  so  he  sent  a  man  to  China  to 
143 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

secure  a  lot  of  Chinese  laborers.  These  were 
brought  to  this  country,  and  the  result  was  that 
with  those  Chinamen,  in  defiance  of  the  President 
of  his  company,  who  had  said  that  Chinamen 
should  not  be  employed,  Crocker  built  the  railroad. 
And  now  you  can  cross  the  Sierra  Nevada  range 
without  a  thought  of  care  because  of  the  dominant, 
insistent  will  of  that  man  and  his  associates. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  if  you  are  going  to 
achieve  anything  in  life  you  will  have  to  be  "  driv- 
ers " —  you  will  have  to  keep  at  it  until  you  suc- 
ceed. You  will  have  to  be  a  slave  driver,  and  you 
yourself  will  be  the  slave,  willingly,  gladly,  joy- 
ously, of  your  own  purpose.  Do  you  want  to  be 
a  slave  to  your  own  purpose?  Do  you  want  to  do 
the  things  that  you  have  willed  to  do?  Some  of 
us  get  the  idea  that  bondage  —  to  be  bound  to  any- 
thing —  is  always  an  unpleasant  thing.  Not  at 
all!  Bind  yourself  to  a  high  and  noble  purpose. 
Make  yourself  a  slave  to  it  in  the  sense  of  con- 
scientiously sticking  to  it.  Now  drive  yourself, 
and  compel  yourself  to  go  ahead  and  do  that  which 
you  have  determined  to  do. 

When  I  think  of  the  old  pioneers  who  walked  and 
rode  across  this  country  to  reach  California ;  when 
I  think  of  the  many  dangers,  difficulties,  and  hard- 
ships that  faced  those  men;  when  I  see  that  they 
were  living  illustrations  of  this  thought  I  am  try- 
ing to  bring  out  —  I  wish  I  had  only  time  and 


RADIANCIES     OF    THE    WILL 

space  to  give  a  definite  account,  instead  of  a  mere 
synopsis  of  the  kind  of  things  they  had  to  endure. 
They  were  surrounded  by  hostile  Indians ;  again 
and  again  their  lives  were  in  jeopardy.  Now  and 
then  they  came  to  great  sloughs  and  marshes,  and 
their  wagons  and  animals  were  bogged.  They  had 
to  find  their  way  across  the  dangerous  quicksands ; 
hard  storms  came  and  they  had  whirlwinds  and 
floods  to  contend  with.  Now  and  again  they  found 
themselves  in  the  heart  of  canyons,  where  there  was 
no  apparent  way  out;  yet  they  went  on,  and  on, 
until  they  either  died  or  reached  the  land  for  which 
they  had  started! 

A  party  of  eighty  set  out  to  cross  the  great 
Sierra  Nevada  range,  and  the  difficulties  they  en- 
countered can  best  be  imagined  when  I  tell  you  that 
forty  of  them  died  on  the  way.  The  difficulties 
that  beset  the  forty  that  were  left  made  it  all  but 
impossible  for  them  to  get  out.  One  of  them  told 
me  about  the  terrible  hardships  they  suffered.  She 
said,  "  I  remember,  distinctly,  when  the  time  came 
for  us  to  get  away,  my  dear  mother  taking  up  the 
baby,  and  leaving  me  behind  with  the  other  baby. 
She  said,  *  Now,  Virginia,  you  stay  right  here ! ' 
She  then  went  on  with  the  baby,  and,  after  strug- 
gling step  by  step,  in  such  a  way  that  it  would 
break  your  heart  to  think  of  it,  for  about  twenty 
paces,  she  put  down  the  baby  and  came  back  for 
the  other  baby  and  myself."  And  so,  step  by  step, 
145 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

step  by  step,  that  woman  with  her  three  little  chil- 
dren, started  on  that  awful  journey  of  scores  of 
miles  through  deep  snow.  Fortunately  help  came 
to  her  assistance  and  she  finally  achieved.  She 
reached  California,  though  one  would  have  thought 
It  absolutely  impossible.  There  was  the  tremen- 
dous insistence  of  the  human  will. 

Let  us  say  "  I  will !  "  and  then  insist  upon  doing 
the  things  we  have  said  we  will  do. 

I  remember  when  I  was  a  boy  hearing  some  one 
recite  something  that  I  thought  was  very  foolish. 
A  little  piece  of  "  poetry  "  it  was  called.  It  was  as 
follows : 

Go  on,  go  on,  go  on,  go  on,  go  on,  go  on! 
Go  on,  go  on,  go  on,  go  on,  go  on,  go  on! 
Go  on,  go  on,  go  on ! 

I  have  since  learned  that  there  is  a  great  deal 
in  that  "  poem." 


146 


CHAPTER  XIV 

RADIANCIES    OF    CHEERFULNESS 

1  WANT  to  be  cheerful  and  to  radiate  cheerful- 
ness at  all  times,  under  all  circumstances,  in  all 
conditions  and  places.  I  want  to  do  this  because 
I  want  to  do  it.  Not  because  it  is  my  duty,  or 
because  I  shall  make  some  one  else  unhappy  if  I  do 
not,  but  merely  and  simply  because  there  is  a  great 
joy  in  the  fact  of  cheerfulness  itself. 

I  have  a  friend  into  whose  presence  I  never  come 
without  feeling  the  radiant  cheerfulness  of  his  na- 
ture. His  face  lights  up  with  a  beautiful  smile,  his 
hand  is  immediately  stretched  out  and  my  hand 
grasped  with  a  cordial  clasp ;  kind  words  come  to 
his  lips  with  a  sincerity  that  one  can  never  question, 
and  in  the  most  unaffected,  genuine,  and  simple 
manner  he  radiates  the  cheerfulness  and  gladness 
of  his  own  soul. 

Did  you  never  meet  with  such  people  who  were 
always  bright  and  sunny,  who  always  gave  forth  a 
cheery  word,  always  radiated  optimism?  Every- 
thing they  say  or  do  makes  you  feel  with 
Browning : 

147 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

God's  in  His  heaven; 

All's    right   with    the   world. 

And  all  this  is  done  without  any  flattery  or  con- 
scious effort  on  their  part  to  make  you  feel  good. 
Some  of  the  severest  rebukes  I  have  ever  received 
were  from  this  man  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  and  yet 
they  were  given  in  such  a  sweet,  gentle  manner  and 
with  such  perfect  sincerity  that  not  only  was  there 
no  irritation  aroused,  but  a  sense  of  gratitude  im- 
planted that  I  had  such  a  real,  sincere  friend. 

I  do  not  wonder  that  men  demand  cheerfulness 
in  others.  It  seems  somewhat  heartless  to  put  up 
a  notice  in  your  office,  as  I  have  seen  in  many  offices, 
"  I  have  troubles  enough  of  my  own.  Tell  yours 
to  the  janitor,"  or  as  another  version  has  it, 
"  Don't  tell  your  troubles  to  me,  I  have  enough  of 
my  own,"  yet  it  speaks  of  a  fact  that  is  all  too  uni- 
versal, namely,  that  each  person  does  have  his  own 
large  share  of  burdens  which  sometimes  seem  as  if 
they  would  swamp  him. 

As  Dr.  Gulick  once  wrote : 

There  is  probably  not  one  person  in  the  world  but  has 
tragedy  enough  and  pain  enough  straight  along  to  warrant 
—  yes,  absolutely  to  warrant  —  pretty  complete  discourage- 
ment. And  I  imagine  that  there  is  no  person  who  is  so 
perfectly  adjusted  by  nature,  so  entirely  balanced  in  health, 
that  there  are  not  times  when  it  is  necessary  to  hold  him- 
self by  deliberate  will  power  — to  forget  how  he  has  been 
hurt,  to  turn  aside  from  some  ugly  thing  in  a  friend's  char- 
.acter,  to  turn  aside  from  the  bad  in  his  own  character,  for 

148 


CHEERFULNESS 

every  one  of  us  has  that  which  is  bad  in  his  character.  Our 
characters  are  ugly  enough  in  part  so  that,  if  we  were  to 
dwell  constantly  on  that  part,  the  prospect  would  seem 
pretty  disheartening  and  justifiably  so. 

All  this  has  to  be  remembered  in  our  association 
with  men  and  women.  And  when  we  remember,  why 
should  we  not  wish,  instead  of  adding  to  their 
burdens,  to  lighten  or  help  remove  them? 

That  cheerfulness  is  possible  in  this  world  of 
woe  and  trial,  there  can  be  no  question,  because 
every  now  and  again,  each  of  us  has  met  with  some 
person  who  radiated  this  quality  at  all  times.  And 
we  know  that  in  our  own  experience,  when  we  have 
willed  to  be  cheerful  and  to  radiate  cheerfulness  to 
others,  we  have  accomplished  far  more  in  that  line 
than  we  otherwise  should  have  done. 

Only  the  other  day  I  picked  up  a  trade  journal 
and  in  it  was  a  short  letter  from  one  business  man 
about  another  business  man  who  had  recently 
passed  away.  Let  me  quote  a  part  of  it : 

Away  back  in  the  Ws  I  met  him  under  the  following 
circumstances.  I  was  then  in  Chicago  and  although  an  in- 
valid was  well  enough  to  assist  my  brother  a  little-  in  his 
office  work. 

One  day  a  stranger  came  in  who  received  an  especially 
cordial  greeting  from  both  my  brother  and  his  partner.  It 
proved  to  be  Harry  W.  Sommers. 

He  was,  for  a  short  time,  a  daily  visitor  and  when  he 
came  in  there  seemed  to  come  with  him  a  glow  of  sunshine. 

It  made  the  same  impression  upon  me  as  it  does  some- 
times, after  a  long  period  of  rain  and  cloudiness,  when  the 
sun,  in  all  its  brightness,  suddenly  bursts  forth. 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

One  day  he  came  to  bid  my  brother  good-by,  and  al- 
though it  is  twenty-one  years  ago,  the  wave  of  his  hand,  the 
cheery  smile  and  the  hearty  good-by,  as  he  looked  toward 
me,  still  linger  in  my  memory 

Many  a  time  since  has  he  come  into  my  mind,  although 
I  never  saw  him  afterward,  accompanied  with  the  thought 
that  were  there  more  Harry  Sommerses  in  this  world,  it 
would  be  a  brighter  and  far  happier  place  to  dwell. 

I  would  far  rather  leave  a  legacy  like  that  behind 
me  than  to  leave  an  immense  fortune  over  which  my 
heirs  would  quarrel  and  go  to  law  and  engender  ill 
feelings  and  then  possibly  spend  in  an  injurious 
manner. 

It  is  said  of  Sister  Dora,  the  noble-hearted 
woman  who  gave  her  life  to  the  iron  workers  of  the 
"  Black  Country  "  in  England,  that  as  she  went 
to  and  fro  in  the  wards  of  the  hospitals,  her  pres- 
ence was  like  a  glad  burst  of  sunshine  to  the  poor 
sick  men  and  women  to  whom  she  ministered. 
Though  they  were  rough,  uncouth,  even  profane 
and  wicked,  she  never  failed  in  her  courtesy  and 
bright  cheerfulness,  and  the  result  was  that  pa- 
tients under  her  control  regained  their  health  far 
more  rapidly  than  those  who  were  subjected  to  the 
depressing  influences  of  moody,  cheerless,  censori- 
ous persons. 

The  same  thing  is  said  of  Walt  Whitman. 
When  he  was  in  the  Government's  employ  at  Wash- 
ington, with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars  a  month,  he  took  forty  dollars  of  this  for 
150 


CHEERFULNESS 

his  own  use  and  spent  the  other  eighty  dollars  to 
provide  comforts  and  luxuries  for  the  poor  soldier 
boys  in  the  hospitals.  I  have  heard  old  soldiers 
tell  of  the  way  they  used  to  feel  when  he  appeared. 
"  It  was  like  the  coming  of  a  young  Santa  Glaus." 
He  carried  a  pack  on  his  back  which  he  would  drop 
by  the  side  of  a  bed  and  reaching  out  his  friendly 
hand,  with  a  radiant  smile  would  say :  "  Well,  how 
is  it  with  you  to-day?  "  and  then,  if  the  soldier  were 
a  stranger,  he  would  ask :  "  Do  you  use  to- 
bacco ?  "  If  the  man  said,  "  No,"  he  would  reply, 
"  That's  good."  If  on  the  other  hand  he  said, 
"  Yes,"  Walt's  reply  would  be  the  same,  and  he 
would  dive  down  into  his  pack  and  bring  out  a  little 
tobacco,  which  he  would  give  with  a  few  kind  and 
cheery  words  to  the  poor  bed-ridden  soldier.  If 
the  invalid  didn't  use  tobacco  there  was  a  book,  a 
game,  or  something  else  that  would  bring  cheer  and 
forgetfulness.  Thus  he  would  pass  up  and  down 
the  wards,  radiating  brightness  and  good  cheer  on 
every  hand.  There  is  no  wonder  that  as  he  passed 
outside  every  eye  followed  him,  every  heart  felt  an 
instinctive  "  God  bless  you,"  and  every  voice  called 
out,  "  Come  again,  soon." 

There  surely  are  enough  conditions  in  Nature  to 
help  the  soul  that  wants  to  be  cheerful  and  radiate 
cheerfulness.  Every  morning  the  sun  arises  with 
radiating  light,  brightness  and  beauty,  illuminat- 
ing and  glorifying  even  the  darkest  and  dullest  of 
151 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

the  things  of  earth.  The  stars  shine  nightly  in  all 
their  sincere  and  calm  beauty,  radiating  the  assur- 
ance of  Infinite  power  and  perpetual  care. 

In  radiant  Nature,  the  butterfly  skims  the  air 
in  its  light  and  fascinating  flight,  attracting  the 
eye  and  charming  with  its  exquisite  coloring.  The 
dew  of  morning,  receiving  the  golden  rays  of  the 
sun,  makes  the  grass  and  trees  appear  as  if  blos- 
soming in  millions  of  diamonds,  each  a  globe  of 
radiating,  scintillating  brightness  and  beauty. 
The  birds  sing  day  and  night,  rain  or  shine,  in 
sunshine  or  storm,  radiating  their  cheerfulness  and 
constant  optimism.  The  trees  awaken  to  the 
caressing  touch  of  the  sun  and  rustle  to  and  fro, 
speaking  in  unmistakable  language  their  joy  of 
mere  living,  and  glistening  back  and  forth  their 
appreciation  of  the  gift  of  warmth  and  brightness. 
The  flowers  grow  as  freely  in  the  wilds  as  in  the 
cultivated  gardens  of  man  —  blossoming  evidences 
of  Nature's  power  to  produce  gorgeous  and  re- 
splendent color,  perfection  in  beauty  of  form  and 
exquisite  deliciousness  in  odor.  Even  the  snail 
crawls  along  expressive  of  delight  in  the  morning, 
and  the  worm  comes  forth  from  the  clod  to  express 
its  appreciation. 

I  have  watched  the  mountains  with  their  snow- 
crowned,  virgin-pure  peaks  soaring  into  the  blue 
of  the  heavens  and  the  massive  rocks  of  the  mighty 
canyons  of  the  West  basking  restfully  in  the  glori- 
152 


CHEERFULNESS 

ous  light  of  day,  and  even  these  majestic  rock- 
giants  spoke  the  unmistakable  language  of  joy, 
and  called  upon  men  to  be  cheerful. 

We  find  exactly  the  same  spirit  and  influence,  if 
we  will  but  look  for  it,  in  mankind.  Too  often  we 
see  but  the  sordidness,  the  greed,  the  selfishness, 
the  cruelty,  the  rapacity  of  men,  yet  we  all  know 
that  this  is  but  one  side,  and  it  is  not  the  reality,  it 
is  only  the  shadow  of  the  real  man,  that  the  real 
man  is  kind,  sympathetic,  helpful,  generous,  true- 
hearted,  and  pure.  If  we  fix  our  eyes  upon  one 
tiny  spot  the  size  of  a  dollar  that  is  speckled  or 
black,  we  can  soon  shut  out  all  the  brightness, 
beauty,  and  sweetness  outside.  I  well  remember 
one  of  the  sentimental  songs  that  was  current  in 
my  boyhood  days.  It  probably  had  as  much  of 
the  mock  sentiment  as  any  other  of  these  songs, 
but  two  lines  of  the  refrain  I  have  never  forgotten, 
and  whenever  I  hear  one  speaking  of  the  unkindness 
of  humanity,  I  feel  like  quoting  them: 

But  speak  not  so  untruly, 

There  are  kind  hearts  everywhere. 

In  spite  of  the  strenuousness  of  our  modern  life, 
as  we  look  around  upon  the  social  settlements,  the 
orphan  asylums,  and  the  thousands  of  men  and 
women  who  adopt  helpless  orphans,  the  prisoners' 
aid  societies,  where  business  men  actually  make  a 
point  of  finding  their  help,  where  possible,  from 
153 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

those  who  have  served  a  term  in  prison  or  the  peni- 
tentiary, and  the  thousand  and  one  other  institu- 
tions which  show  that  the  Golden  Rule  is  actively 
in  operation  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  women  —  I 
say  these  things  make  me  happy  and  cheerful,  and 
I  feel  like  singing  for  j  oy,  that  innate  beauty  is  as 
much  in  evidence,  and  more,  in  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  men  as  it  is  in  Nature. 

So  I  want  cheerfulness  to  be  the  constant  habit 
of  my  mind  and  soul.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  cheerful 
occasionally  or  semi-occasionally.  I  would  prefer 
to  be  a  man  of  one  mood  and  that  mood,  with  its 
variations,  to  be  a  mood  of  habitual  cheerfulness. 
I  regard  a  cheerful  disposition  as  one  of  the  most 
precious  possessions.  It  is  like  a  pair  of  spectacles 
that  have  the  power  of  luminosity  within  them- 
selves. It  sees  clearly  enough  but  lightens  up  the 
darkest  and  most  dreary  spots  of  earth.  Cheer- 
fulness is  not  only  a  duty,  but  a  philosophy,  a  re- 
ligion, a  wisdom.  The  cheerful  man  is  the  per- 
petually wise  optimist.  A  cheerless  or  gloomy 
man  is  the  perpetually  unwise  pessimist.  And 
years  ago  I  learned  to  test  all  philosophies  and  re- 
ligions by  practical  life.  No  philosophy,  no  re- 
ligion was  good  that  could  not  satisfy  every- 
day life.  Optimism  never  fails  at  any  time,  but 
pessimism  is  worse  than  a  broken  reed  to  lean 
upon. 

Take  the  pessimists  you  know,  and  I  can  pretty 
154 


CHEERFULNESS 

nearly  stake  my  life  upon  it  you  will  find  nearly 
all  of  them  dyspeptics,  with  poor  circulation,  shiv- 
ering on  a  cold  morning  with  their  hands  in  their 
pockets,  complaining  that  they  were  not  awakened 
early  enough,  finding  fault  because  the  breakfast 
was  not  served  just  right,  railing  at  the  car  service, 
ranting  about  the  rottenness  of  men  in  public  life. 
They  seem  to  take  a  pride  in  believing,  as  did 
Dickens'  Mantalini  in  Nicholas  Nickleby,  that 
"  We  are  all  going  to  the  demnition  bow-wows." 
What  a  contrast  there  is  between  this  man  and  the 
Cheeryble  Brothers  of  the  same  book,  those  great 
and  simple-hearted  human  reservoirs  of  cheerful- 
ness and  optimism,  radiating  sweetness,  happiness, 
content,  wherever  they  went,  blessing  and  benefiting 
every  heart  willing  to  accept  the  sweetness  and 
purity  of  theirs. 

Pessimism  is  not  a  working  theory  of  life.  It  is 
the  substitution  of  gloomy,  deep-blue  spectacles 
for  the  beautiful  luminous  ones.  As  Dr.  Gulick 
says: 

Pessimism  is  negative,  denial,  believing  that  the  evil  is 
more  than  the  good,  that  life  is  not  worth  while;  it  is  a 
dampening  down  of  life.  Pessimism  tends  to  its  own  an- 
nihilation, because  it  takes  away  life's  motives,  life's  vigor, 
life's  power. 

On  the  other  hand,  optimism  cheers,  encourages, 
brightens,  beautifies,  glorifies,  blesses,  helps.     And 
I  long  ago  learned  that  that  man,  that  woman,  who 
155 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

succeeds  in  helping  and  benefiting  and  blessing 
mankind  is  essentially  an  optimist. 

The  other  day  I  saw  the  act  of  an  optimist.  He 
and  a  friend  were  seated  in  a  street  car.  It  was 
Saturday  night,  the  car  was  crowded,  and  by  and 
by  two  well-dressed  men  got  in,  one  of  them  with 
an  unmistakable  look  of  refinement,  the  other 
somewhat  coarse  looking.  Both  had  evidently 
been  drinking  heavily.  The  more  refined  and  elder 
of  the  two  could  barely  stand  upright,  as  the  car 
whirled  around  the  curves.  The  optimist  looked 
up,  saw  the  state  of  affairs,  and  in  the  sweetest, 
gentlest  manner  arose  and  extended  his  hand  and 
bade  the  elderly  gentleman  take  his  seat.  There 
was  no  look  of  reproach  or  disgust,  and  yet  I  know 
that  he  was  a  rigid  abstainer  and  strong  temper- 
ance worker  and  one  who  hated  every  form  of 
indulgence  in  alcoholic  liquors.  The  companion  of 
the  man  who  had  taken  the  seat,  began  to  talk  in 
the  ordinary  mumbling,  rambling,  effusive  style  of 
the  drunkard,  and  the  other  without  either  impa- 
tience or  any  sign  of  disapproval,  quietly  entered 
into  the  conversation,  and  I  speak  only  the  fact 
when  I  state  that  without  any  preaching  or  fault- 
finding, his  few  earnest,  sincere,  optimistic  words 
so  won  the  heart  of  that  large,  coarse-looking, 
drunken  man  that  he  seemed  absolutely  sobered 
and  responded  to  the  higher  call  of  the  soul. 

This  is  what  optimism  and  cheerfulness  do  for 
156 


CHEERFULNESS 

mankind,  hence  I  want  to  radiate  it  more  and 
more. 

Mark  Twain  was  full  of  this  spirit  of  radiating 
cheerfulness.  In  one  of  his  darkest  hours  in  San 
Francisco,  before  he  had  gained  name  or  fame, 
things  had  gone  wrong  and  a  lady  friend  passing 
along  a  street  saw  him  standing  beside  a  lamp- 
post with  a  cigar-box  under  his  arm.  "  Cigars  ?  " 
she  asked.  "  Where  are  you  going  in  such  a 
hurry  ?  "  "  I'm  m-o-o-v-i-n-g,"  drawled  Mark,  at 
the  same  time  displaying  the  contents  of  the  box 
which  consisted  of  a  pair  of  socks,  a  pipe,  and  two 
paper  collars.  Even  in  his  darkest  hours  he  was 
able  to  look  out  upon  the  bright  side,  and  out  from 
those  hours  of  gloom  came  some  of  the  brightest 
pieces  of  wit  and  cheerful  philosophy  to  irradiate 
and  bless  the  entire  world. 

If  I  were  an  employer  of  labor  and  could  get 
the  right  men  and  women  to  do  the  work,  I  would 
employ  a  half  dozen  for  my  factory  or  workshop 
to  teach  my  employees  to  be  cheerful,  to  laugh  and 
sing  at  their  work.  It  would  be  a  good  paying 
investment.  I  would  get  a  great  deal  more  work 
out  of  my  employees  and  of  a  great  deal  better 
quality.  A  hearty  laugh  is  better  than  a  bottle 
of  medicine ;  a  volume  of  Mark  Twain  or  Marshall 
Wilder,  better  than  a  library  of  pessimistic  philoso- 
phy of  high  sounding  phrases. 

Cheerfulness  takes  the  jolts  out  of  the  rutty 
157 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

road  of  life.  It  is  an  extra  pair  of  springs  to  the 
wagon.  It  is  an  automobile  shock-absorber.  It 
resists  the  encoachments  of  the  grouch  and  bids 
the  blue  devils  a vaunt ! 

The  old-fashioned  methods  of  kings  having  a 
clown  to  keep  them  and  their  court  laughing  during 
meal  time  was  a  profound  piece  of  philosophy  and 
wisdom,  for  the  stomach's  sake,  if  for  no  other 
reason.  The  folly  of  the  clown  caused  laughter, 
promoted  genial  humor  which  increased  the  flow  of 
all  the  digestive  juices  and  thus  contributed  to 
good  digestion  and  perfect  assimilation.  The 
uncheerful  father  or  mother  who  sits  down  to 
the  table  like  a  thundercloud  and  suppresses  the 
bright,  happy  exuberance  of  childhood  ought  to  be 
taken  down  to  the  dentist  and  pumped  full  of 
laughing-gas  until  he  or  she  would  laugh  for  a 
week.  I  would  make  such  people  laugh  until  their 
sides  ached  and  they  had  to  go  to  bed  to  get  over 
it,  and  every  time  a  frown  or  gloomy  look  came 
over  the  face  I  would  have  somebody  lift  a  warning 
finger  (but  also  a  laughing  face)  and  threaten  them 
with  another  week's  dose  of  laughing-gas. 

"  But,"  says  the  gloomy  one,  "  life  has  gone 
wrong  with  me.  How  can  I  be  cheerful  when  I  am 
out  of  work  and  sick  and  have  no  friends  ? " 
Your  case  is  hard,  my  friend.  I  recognize  it  with 
sympathy,  but  let  me  tell  you  this,  that  every 
grouchy  look  and  word  will  make  it  harder  for  you 
158 


CHEERFULNESS 

to  get  work,  and  will  put  friendship  further  away 
from  you.  Even  as  a  business  proposition,  it  does 
not  pay.  Make  yourself  laugh  and  be  cheerful, 
whether  you  can  be  or  not,  for  very  few  men  are 
willing  to  surround  themselves  with  those  who  ap- 
pear to  be  gloomy,  depressed  and  grouchy.  Learn 
the  lesson  that  it  does  no  good  to  indulge  in  self- 
pity.  Whatever  the  adverse  circumstances  of  life 
may  be,  face  them  like  a  man. 

Years  ago  I  had  learned  this  lesson  of  refusal  to 
pity  myself,  and  I  then  wrote : 

"  I  want  to  radiate  a  spirit  that  refuses  to  pity 
itself  for  any  of  its  woes,  its  afflictions,  its  misfor- 
tunes, its  sorrows.  There  is  no  weakness  so  weak 
as  the  weakness  of  self-pity;  there  is  nothing  so 
spiritually  debilitating  as  to  brood  over  one's  own 
sorrows.  It  is  a  kind  of  melancholy  selfishness; 
it  neither  helps  one's  self  nor  others ;  it  is  depress- 
ing to  all  concerned.  I  happened  to  read  to-day 
in  a  popular  novel  a  sentence  that  most  truthfully 
expresses  what  I  believe  upon  this  subject:  '  The 
most  absolutely  selfish  thing  in  the  world  is  to  give 
way  to  depression,  to  think  of  one's  troubles  at  all, 
except  of  how  to  overcome  them.  I  spend  many 
delightful  hours  thinking  of  the  pleasant  and  beau- 
tiful things  of  life.  I  decline  to  waste  a  single 
second  even  in  considering  the  ugly  ones.' 

"  It  is  just  as  easy  to  form  a  habit  of  dwelling 
upon  the  sweet  and  good  and  beautiful  and  happy 
159 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

things  of  life  as  upon  the  bitter  and  evil  and  ugly 
and  unhappy  things.  Brooding  enlarges  whatever 
it  exercises  itself  upon,  whether  it  be  good  or  evil, 
joy  or  woe.  So  brood  on  the  good  things,  cast 
out  the  others,  and  so  live  that  you  radiate  this 
joy  and  determination  not  to  recognize  the  evil  and 
unpleasant  things. 

"  Self-pity  takes  the  backbone  out  of  one.  It 
robs  one  of  his  manhood,  his  courage,  his  daring  to 
go  on  and  face  all  the  difficulties  before  him.  It  is 
self-pity  that  makes  the  suicide.  He  looks  at  his 
woes,  his  difficulties,  until  he  cannot  bear  them,  and 
so  goes  and  takes  the  big  plunge  into  the  dark. 

"  Brother,  sister,  quit  your  self -pitying.  There 
is  another  side  to  the  darkness.  Look  up,  not 
down.  Remember  that,  in  the  words  of  Robert 
Browning,  *  God's  in  His  heaven,  all's  right  with 
the  world.'  So  I  have  long  resolved  to  radiate 
cheerfulness  as  much  when  I  am  down,  as  when  I 
am  up  —  when  misfortune  glowers  upon  me,  as 
when  fortune  smiles.  It  is  so  easy  to  interpret 
our  material  good  as  a  proof  of  God's  favor,  and 
our  material  ill  as  a  sign  that  He  is  displeased  with 
us.  Those  who  went  to  Jesus  and  asked,  when 
the  tower  of  Siloam  fell  and  killed  eighteen: 
'  Were  they  not  sinners  above  all  others  because 
this  thing  happened  to  them  ?  '  are  not  without 
their  myriads  of  counterparts  in  the  world  to-day. 
160 


CHEERFULNESS 

When  a  man  strikes  a  new  gusher  in  an  oil  region, 
or  a  good  flow  of  water  in  a  desert  country,  or  his 
grainfield  gives  him  seventy  bushels  to  the  acre,  it 
is  easy  enough  to  believe  that  Providence  is  smiling 
upon  him,  and,  therefore,  his  faith  is  strong  and 
unquenchable.  I  have  enough  of  that  kind  of 
faith.  I  can  radiate  that  without  an  effort  or 
thought.  But  I  desire  above  all  things  to  radiate 
a  like  sure  and  definite  faith  when  my  neighbor 
strikes  a  gusher  and  I  do  not ;  when  my  enemy  finds 
a  fine  flow  of  water  and  my  crops  are  being  parched 
—  I  want  as  strong  a  sense  of  contentment  when 
Fortune  smiles  upon  the  other  -fellow,  as  when  it 
smiles  upon  me." 

This  leads  to  another  practical  radiance.  It  is 
that  of  absolute  certainty  that  things  do  not 
happen.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  "  happen- 
stance "  in  the  world. 

"  Nothing  happens,"  is  a  word  often  on  my  inner 
lips.  There  is  no  evil,  no  wrong,  no  misfortune  to 
the  man  who  consciously  lives  with  power  ever  sur- 
rounding him.  In  our  short-sightedness,  we 
dream,  we  think  of  evil,  or  ill,  or  wrong,  or  mis- 
fortune, but  if  our  faith's  eyes  were  always  open, 
we  should  see  nothing  but  good  —  and  that  all 
circumstances  are  good  in  their  ultimate  results 
upon  us. 

Some  years  ago  I  met  a  lady  who  possessed  this 
161 


spirit  of  radiant  cheerfulness,  and  yet  she  was  in  a 
sanitarium  and  had  undergone  several  severe  surgi- 
cal operations. 

In  conversation  with  her,  I  learned  that  some 
years  before  she  had  found  herself  afflicted  with  a 
tumor  in  her  breast.  The  surgeon  said  that  noth- 
ing but  the  knife  would  remove  it.  This  seemed 
almost  like  a  sentence  to  death,  and  my  friend  and 
her  husband,  children,  and  friends  were  deeply 
saddened  by  the  necessity.  They  all  went  through 
a  period  of  deep  gloom,  of  darkness,  of  despond- 
ency. Then  there  came  to  her  the  idea  that  it  was 
contrary  to  Nature  that  she  and  her  loved  ones 
should  waste  their  time,  energy,  and  strength  in 
such  repining  and  sorrow.  She  remembered  the 
words,  "  Be  careful  for  nothing,  but  in  everything 
by  prayer  and  supplication  make  your  requests 
known  unto  God,"  and  then  there  came  to  her  the 
joy  of  the  promise  that  followed:  "And  the 
peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding  shall 
keep  your  hearts  and  minds  "  in  what  is  sure  to  be 
the  spirit  of  peace  and  love. 

So  she  began  to  look  upon  the  duty  of  cheerful- 
ness. She  soon  saw  that  it  was  the  only  path  for 
her  to  walk  in.  The  operation  was  performed.  It 
was  serious,  and  for  three  years  she  and  her  loved 
ones  had  to  struggle  hard  to  be  cheerful  and  opti- 
mistic. But  the  results  more  than  repaid  for  the 
efforts  expended,  for,  when  at  the  end  of  the  three 
162 


CHEERFULNESS 

years,  the  tumor  again  appeared,  even  more  serious 
in  character,  and  she  had  to  go  to  the  hospital 
again,  she  found  that,  after  the  first  few  dark 
hours,  a  great  peace  stole  over  her  whole  being,  and 
as  a  result  of  her  cheerful  radiancy,  her  husband 
and  children  were  "  adorably  cheerful  and  loving." 
She  has  since  said : 

"  I  went  to  the  hospital  feeling  sure  that  I  could 
find  peace  in  suffering,  pleasure  in  pain,  content- 
ment through  it  all.  When  I  was  put  upon  the 
operating  table  this  sense  of  peace  and  content 
and  lack  of  fear  enabled  me  to  take  the  anesthetic 
easily,  and  after  the  operation  was  over,  when  the 
pain  was  terrible,  to  fight  my  battle  with  a  happy 
heart.  I  faltered  a  little  once  or  twice  when  the 
pain  seemed  to  pile  mountains  high  during  the  first 
few  days,  but  when  my  nurse  found  that  I  meant 
to  make  the  best  of  everything,  she  took  hold  in 
the  right  way  with  a  spirit  of  determination  to  help 
me,  so.it  was  not  long  before  I  really  seemed  to 
rise,  by  means  of  the  very  mountains  of  pain  that 
at  first  appeared  as  if  they  would  overwhelm  me,  to 
summits  of  joy,  content  and  satisfaction  I  could 
not  have  known  without  them. 

"  As  I  looked  out  of  the  windows,  the  trees 
seemed  to  be  putting  forth  their  leaves  in  richest 
beauty  all  for  me.  The  birds  —  the  robins  and 
bluebirds  —  seemed  to  come  and  sing  for  me. 
The  air  grew  daily  more  balmy  and  sweet,  and  as  I 
163 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

contemplated  these  things,  I  found  even  the  tre- 
mendous noises  of  switching  cars  and  the  dis- 
agreeable sounds  of  the  engine,  combined  with  the 
racket  of  the  wagons  that  came  rattling  over  the 
cobble-stones,  came  to  be  quite  bearable.  Peace 
and  joy  were  in  my  heart.  I  was  content,  full, 
satisfied." 

And  she  certainly  looked  it.  She  was  a  radiat- 
ing reservoir  of  these  glorious  and  uplifting  quali- 
ties. How  could  she  be  otherwise?  So,  with  this 
woman's  experience  in  mind  I  again  urge  you  to 
be  cheerful.  Be  happy.  Acquire  the  habit  of  the 
effort.  It  soon  grows  easy.  Believe  implicitly  in 
the  power  of  Good  —  and  that  the  apparently  bad 
is  contrary  to  Nature's  laws  and  wishes  (being  a 
result  of  some  transgression  or  ignorance),  and 
that  whatever  happens  is  good,  for  it  works  out 
for  the  best  in  the  end. 

And  now,  to  conclude,  or  as  our  preacher  friends 
say,  "  one  more  word."  In  my  radiancy  or  cheer- 
fulness, I  want  to  remember  to  radiate  all  the  time 
and  to  all  people.  It  is  easy  enough  to  be  cheerful 
in  the  presence  of  our  superiors  and  with  our  com- 
panions and  equals.  But  I  notice  that  it  is  a  very 
different  matter  with  many  people  to  be  cheerful 
with  those  whom  society  and  the  world  call  their 
inferiors  —  the  elevator  boy,  the  bell  boy,  the 
valet,  the  chambermaid,  the  clerk,  the  stenographer, 
the  laborer,  the  coachman,  in  other  words,  all  those 
164 


CHEERFULNESS 

whom  we  call  "  servants."  Many  people  feel  that 
they  are  not  under  any  obligation  to  be  cheerful  to 
them,  but,  oh,  what  a  joy  they  miss,  what  a  privi- 
lege they  throw  away.  Why  not  especially  radiate 
cheerfulness  to  the  fullest  possible  extent  to  those 
who  have  less  of  this  world's  goods  than  ourselves  ? 
Why  not  help  them  bear  the  burdens  of  life  by 
your  radiant  optimism?  Let  your  cheerfulness 
be  real,  sincere,  honest,  manly.  Try  to  concern 
yourself  in  their  interests  and  understand  some- 
what of  the  battles  they  have  to  fight.  It  does  not 
take  up  much  time  or  require  much  effort.  It  is 
the  spirit  of  the  thing  that  is  felt  and  that  counts. 
So,  be  cheerful  at  all  times  and  radiate  your  cheer- 
fulness to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  Thus 
you  will  go  through  the  world  leaving  a  blessed 
path  of  sweetness,  brightness,  and  sunshine  behind 
you  which  will  illuminate,  cheer,  and  bless  all  who 
walk  therein. 


165 


CHAPTER  XV 

RADIANCIES    OF    MORAL   COURAGE 

1  WANT  to  radiate  moral  courage.  Who  that 
has  read  the  life  of  Emerson  cannot  appreciate 
the  moral  courage  that  controlled  him  at  all  times. 
He  was  incapable  of  cowardice.  Timid,  sensitive 
as  the  most  delicate  plant,  shrinking  from  notori- 
ety, he  yet  did  and  said  things  that  brought  down 
upon  him  the  censure  and  concentrated  fury  and 
hatred  of  thousands.  He,  so  gentle  and  kind, 
spoke  words  that  hit  and  smashed  and  crashed 
through  the  entrenched  ideas  of  the  world  like  red- 
hot  cannon-balls.  Though  never  a  politician,  he 
spoke  words  on  the  principles  involved  in  the  slav- 
ery question  that  surpassed  in  fervid  eloquence  and 
effective  power  anything  ever  said  by  Wendell  Phil- 
lips or  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  On  one  occasion 
he  faced  a  mob  of  fiery  sympathizers  with  the  other 
side  and  declared  the  highest,  purest  truths  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  and  when  remonstrated  with 
for  daring  such  an  assemblage  he  calmly  and 
quietly  replied :  "  Had  I  been  dumb,  I  would  have 
gone  and  muttered  and  made  signs." 

When  men  worshiped  certain  ideas  and  believed 

166 


MORAL     COURAGE 

that  they  were  religion,  and  that  it  was  needful  to 
believe  them  in  order  to  live  aright  on  earth  and  win 
the  favor  of  a  heavenly  hereafter,  Emerson  arose 
and  smote  them  into  the  dust  by  the  calm,  relent- 
less, passionless  logic  of  one  who  sees  and  knows  — 
the  divinely  ordained  prophet  —  and  one  result  of 
his  daring  was  that  he  was  cast  out  from  his  pulpit 
and  from  the  sweet  and  hallowed  communion  he  and 
his  grandfathers  for  eight  past  generations  had 
enjoyed  in  the  church.  What  a  wrenching  of 
heart  strings,  what  a  tearing  away  of  old  ties,  what 
an  isolation  of  oneself,  what  a  bringing  down  of 
the  avalanche  of  abuse,  of  slander,  of  harsh  words 
and  unkind  deeds !  Yet  he  never  hesitated.  The 
oversoul  called  to  the  sacrifice,  and  at  the  same 
time  pointed  to  the  recompense  of  the  spirit,  and 
he  never  saw,  never  knew,  never  felt  the  contumely, 
the  scorn,  the  ostracism,  the  abuse. 

Is  it  not  glorious  to  live  in  such  a  realm  of  high 
spiritual  courage?  To  do  unconsciously?  To  be 
unconsciously?  Not  to  have  to  work  your  cour- 
age up  to  the  daring  point ;  to  nerve  yourself  for 
the  plunge,  but  to  plunge  anyhow,  trusting,  know- 
ing that  in  doing  the  highest,  the  noblest,  the  best 
thing  conceivable  to  you,  you  can  never  fail? 
What  does  starvation  of  the  body  mean  to  the 
man  whose  soul  is  uplifted  into  the  presence  of  the 
Most  High?  Such  an  one  can  live  for  forty  days 
or  forty  years,  if  necessary,  without  more  food 
167 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

than  would  feed  a  sparrow.  What  does  isolation 
from  his  fellows  —  preachers,  doctors,  lawyers, 
every-day  men  and  women  —  mean  to  a  man  who 
communes  daily  with  angels,  archangels,  and  with 
God  Himself?  Does  he  feel  slighted,  hurt,  neg- 
lected? Such  a  courage  as  this  I  myself  desire, 
so  that  I  may  live  it,  radiate  it  every  moment. 

It  was  this  courage  that  made  John  Brown 
march  on  that  most  quixotic  of  all  marches  —  with 
a  handful  of  men  to  free  the  slave.  It  was  rebel- 
lion, anarchy,  unlawful  invasion,  the  breaking  of 
man's  law  —  of  course  it  was.  But  he  saw  a 
higher  vision  than  man's  outlook,  he  felt  a  higher 
call  than  man's  demand,  and  he  knew  no  law  of  man 
in  the  obedience  of  his  soul,  body,  life,  his  all,  to 
the  call  of  the  Spirit.  And  though  a  rude  Kansas 
pioneer  and  farmer,  he  had  the  soul-courage  to 
obey.  Forward!  March!  He  marched  to  his 
death! 

Did  he  ?  No !  He  marched  to  the  death  of  his 
body,  but  he  began  a  triumphant  march  in  the 
heavens  forever  brilliantly  illuminating  the  minds 
and  souls  of  men,  and  lifting  them  up  into  a  higher 
state  of  life,  making  them  less  sordid,  less  afraid  of 
position,  life,  honor,  less  easily  influenced  by  the 
keen  censure  and  scorn  of  the  blind  world. 

Talk  about  battlefields  and  batteries,  forts  and 
forlorn  hopes  and  the  courages  of  the  Charge  of 
the  Light  Brigade,  or  of  the  Stand  of  the  Old 
168 


MORAL     COURAGE 

Guards  at  Waterloo,  or  of  Dewey  sailing  into 
Manila  Harbor;  what  were  those  acts  of  physical 
courage  compared  with  the  moral  heroism  that 
leads  a  man  to  dare  the  stake,  the  cross,  or  the  tor- 
tures of  the  bigot?  Read  Mark  Twain's  Life  of 
Joan  of  Arc,  and  feel  your  heart  throb  to  the  high- 
souled,  divinely  inspired  courage  of  that  girl  of 
eighteen;  not  only  physical  courage,  as  when  she 
led,  in  person,  the  charges  of  the  French  army 
against  the  English,  who  had  been  victorious  in 
France  for  almost  a  hundred  years,  but  when  she 
dared  the  great  ecclesiastical  courts  that  badgered 
and  baited  her,  as  she  sat  unaided,  alone,  unbe- 
friended,  undefended,  unadvised  by  man,  for  weeks 
at  a  time,  when  the  cowardly  hounds  were  de- 
termined to  send  her  to  the  stake.  Where  did 
her  heroism  and  courage  come  from  that  she,  a 
mere  country  peasant  child,  who  had  never  even 
ridden  a  horse,  or  seen  a  battlefield,  who  never 
had  read  a  book,  or  knew  the  first  thing  of  guiding 
and  controlling  soldiers,  or  setting  an  army  in 
battle  array;  I  say,  where  did  her  courage  come 
from,  that  she  could  dare  to  go  into  the  proud 
presence  of  nobles  and  warriors  and  demand  that 
they  give  her  a  guard  to  take  her  to  the  King  of 
France,  where  she  assured  him  that  she  would  soon 
drive  out  the  English  and  have  him  duly  crowned 
king  of  his  reconquered  provinces  ?  Here  was  the 
radiant  life  in  actual,  potent  exercise.  She  radi- 
169 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

ated  courage  and  faith,  just  as  the  sun  radiates 
heat  —  in  such  abundance  that  men  sweated  with 
it,  men  were  fired  to  the  intense  heat  and  fervor  of 
new  life  and  courage  with  it.  So  that,  from  a 
cowed,  disheartened  pack  of  whipped  men,  who  fled 
from  the  mere  sound  of  approach  of  a  small  body  of 
English  soldiers,  raw  recruits,  as-  well  as  seasoned 
veterans,  shouted  to  be  led  against  the  foe,  and 
when  once  in  the  conflict  hammered  away  regardless 
of  wounds,  even  of  death,  u-ntil  victory  was  theirs. 

Whence  came  this  radiant  courage  and  power? 
It  was  simply  because  she  dared  to  listen  to  the 
voices  speaking  to  her  soul,  and  nothing  else 
counted.  That's  the  life  I  want  to  get  hold  of. 
That  is  the  courage  and  the  life  I  wish  to  radiate. 
Afraid  of  men,  of  starvation,  of  opposition,  of 
censure,  of  hatred,  of  ostracism  ?  No !  Why 
should  we  be  afraid  to  lose  a  few  cents,  when  our 
hands  are  filled  with  diamonds,  and  rubies,  and 
pearls,  and  nuggets  of  gold?  Why  should  we 
fear  men,  when  we  have  the  courage  of  our  con- 
victions ? 

Let  us  look  not  down,  but  up,  and  seek  to  draw 
from  the  heavens  above  the  inspiration,  the  cour- 
age, the  bravery,  the  heroism  of  the  soul. 

There  has  recently  passed  away  in  despotic  Rus- 
sia a  man  whose  life  for  years  has  radiated  moral 
courage  throughout  the  world.  Tolstoi  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions.  He  felt  that  social  dis- 
170 


MORAL     COURAGE 

tinctions  were  wrong.  Immediately  he  did  the 
practical  thing  —  put  himself  on  the  plane  of 
every  common  laboring  man  by  personally  becom- 
ing a  tiller  of  his  own  soil.  "  What  a  fool !  "  ex- 
claimed the  aristocratic  world  to  which,  by  birth, 
he  belonged.  "  Does  he  think  he  can  change  our 
opinions  by  that  silly  act  ?  "  they  cried.  No !  He 
knew  it  would  have  little  or  no  effect  on  them,  but 
he  was  compelled  to  clear  his  own  soul.  So  he 
braved  their  laughter  and  scorn,  their  contumely 
and  contempt,  that  the  world  might  know  for  cer- 
tain what  he  really  did  think  and  feel. 

He  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Government 
of  Russia,  and  the  conduct  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Greek  Church  —  the  established  church  of  Russia 
—  were  neither  in  conformity  with  true  religion 
nor  true  brotherhood.  Though  the  former  was 
despotic,  and  the  latter  as  "  hide-bound  and  dog- 
matic as  rigid  adherence  to  dead  forms  and  creeds 
ever  makes  men,"  he  fearlessly  expressed  his  inmost 
convictions  against  both  and  called  upon  them  to 
change,  reform,  amend  their  ways  and  actually  be- 
come what  they  professed  to  be.  The  state  threat- 
ened him  with  Siberian  banishment  unless  he  kept 
silence,  but  never  till  death  silenced  him  did  he  heed 
the  threatening  command ;  the  church  cast  him  out,, 
and  then  he  wrote  a  book,  My  Religion,  that  gave 
newer  and  more  exalted  conceptions  of  religion  to 
the  world,  even  though  possibly  it  would  be  hard  to 
171 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

find  a  single  man  who  accepts  everything  just  as 
Tolstoi  set  it  forth  in  that  book. 

He  came  to  the  decision  that  the  fine  clothes  and 
luxurious  surroundings  of  the  rich  and  noble  were 
neither  Christian  nor  humane.  They  caused  envy 
and  bitterness  in  the  hearts  of  those  whose  lives 
were  one  long  struggle  with  poverty.  So  at  once 
he  cast  off  his  gorgeous  apparel,  denuded  his  own 
rooms  of  all  unnecessary  and  elaborate  furnishings, 
and  thus,  again  and  further,  placed  himself  where 
men  could  feel  the  truth  and  power  of  his  utter- 
ances about  human  brotherhood. 

When  Russia  declared  war  against  Japan,  Tol- 
stoi wrote  a  letter  to  the  Emperor,  the  state  offi- 
cials, and  the  Russian  people  that  was  a  loud  trum- 
pet blast  heard  throughout  the  world  calling  upon 
them  in  the  name  of  their  Creator  and  down-trod- 
den humanity  to  stop !  and  declare  peace.  Many 
a  man  had  been  sent  to  Siberia  for  life  —  nay,  sent 
to  be  speedily  tortured  to  death  —  for  far  less  than 
this,  but  this  fearless  old  man  let  his  voice  ring  out 
with  a  power  that  convinced  thousands  as  never 
before  that  war  at  its  best  was  but  a  relic  of  bar- 
barism and  a  disgrace  to  every  professedly  pro- 
gressive nation. 

Oh,  for  a  courage  like  Tolstoi's  —  true-hearted, 
brave,  simple-minded,  pure,  that  never  failed  when 
called  upon.  Granted  he  was  "  queer,"  "  quixotic," 
"  unbalanced,"  "  impracticable,"  was  not  his  queer- 


MORAL     COURAGE 

ness  and  impracticability  at  least  on  the  side  of  the 
moral  forces  of  the  world?  Everybody  knew 
where  and  how  he  stood;  where  his  sympathies 
were;  and  his  life  has  strengthened  the  backbone 
and  put  new  vigor  into  the  weak  knees  of  hundreds 
of  thousands,  for  moral  courage  radiates  with 
power  that  increases  according  to  the  square  of 
the  distance.  It  does  not  grow  less ;  it  enlarges ; 
for  each  man  who  feels  it  becomes  a  new  generator 
and  transformer  and  thus  enlarges  and  increases 
its  radiating  power  four-,  eight-,  twelve-fold. 

Henry  Bergh  was  another  of  these  heroic  moral- 
courage  radiators.  His  tender  heart  was  cut  to 
the  quick  day  by  day  by  seeing  the  cruelties  per- 
petrated upon  the  poor  dumb  brutes  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  He  determined  to  do  what  he  could  to 
stop  these  barbarous  practices.  He  agitated  and 
wrote,  spoke  and  interviewed  until  he  succeeded  in 
getting  ordinances  and  acts  passed  which  gave  him 
power  to  prevent  whatever  cruelties  he  saw.  How 
he  was  jeered;  how  he  was  cursed,  when  he  sought 
to  interfere  with  a  brutal  driver  who  would  cruelly 
whip  his  horses  to  compel  them  to  drag  loads  be- 
yond their  strength!  The  newspapers  said  he 
stood  in  the  way  of  business,  and  they  sarcastically 
called  him  "  the  knight  of  the  doleful  countenance," 
not  realizing  that  it  was  the  cruelties  perpetrated 
by  so-called  men  upon  their  younger  brothers  — 
the  dumb  animals  —  that  had  so  frozen  the  pain 
173 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

and  anguish  of  his  heart  upon  his  face.  But  his 
heart  never  failed,  his  courage  never  wavered. 
Threatened,  mobbed,  his  life  often  in  peril,  he  fear- 
lessly waged  constant  warfare  against  cruelty,  and 
to-day  the  very  city  that  hated  and  scorned  him  is 
building  monuments  to  his  honor  in  every  street- 
watering  trough  they  erect.  And  his  radiant  in- 
fluence has  reached  every  civilized  city  m  the  world, 
such  is  the  penetrating  radiancy  of  a  loving  and 
true  heart. 

Before  I  proceed  to  a  further  consideration  of 
this  radiancy  of  a  large-hearted,  moral  heroism,  I 
want  to  answer  the  objection  raised  to  what  I  have 
already  written  by  a  young  man  to  whom  I  read  it. 
He  said:  "  But  I  am  not  an  Emerson,  or  a  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  or  a  John  Brown,  or  Tolstoi.  What 
chance  do  I  have  of  exercising  moral  courage  ?  " 

A  very  pertinent  question,  and  one  I  am  glad  to 
try  to  answer.  I  do  not  believe  there  was  ever  a 
man,  a  time,  or  a  place  which  did  not,  sometime, 
somehow,  call  for  the  exercise  of  moral  heroism. 
And  especially  in  these  days  of  lax  principle,  break- 
ing down  of  old  standards,  political  graft,  and 
worship  of  material  success.  What  minister  is 
there  in  no  matter  what  church  who  is  not  called 
upon,  now  and  again,  nay,  often,  to  speak  fear- 
lessly upon  some  practical  subject  upon  which 
people  are  looking  for  light?  Is  he  a  moral  hero 
who  taboos  such  subjects,  who  refrains  from  dis- 


MORAL     COURAGE 

cussing  them  in  the  pulpit  because  they  are  not 
"gospel"  subjects?  What  gospel  subject  can 
surpass  in  interest  and  in  human  and  divine  appeal 
to  the  soul  of  man  the  "  white-slave  "  question,  and 
a  host  of  other  subjects  upon  which  ordinary  well- 
to-do  men  and  women  need  enlightenment?  That 
minister  is  endowed  with  the  radiant  power  of  moral 
courage  who,  even  though  he  offend  some  of  the 
smug,  comfortably  righteous  members  of  his  con- 
gregation, dares  to  denounce  the  church  people 
who  rent  their  houses  and  lands  for  immoral  pur- 
poses, for  breweries,  for  saloons,  for  any  and  all 
things  that  destroy  men's  bodies  and  souls  and 
bring  suffering  to  innocent  women  and  children. 
Take  the  child-labor  question,  especially  in  the 
communities  where  men  live  who  have  become  rich 
by  using  child  labor,  whether  in  cotton  factories, 
glass  factories,  tobacco,  or  any  other  factories. 
Should  not  such  men  hear  the  gospel  plainly  and 
without  equivocation?  Who  is  to  give  it?  The 
minister  of  the  Christ  who  came  to  seek  and  save 
the  down-trodden,  the  injured,  the  forsaken,  the 
lost.  Then  all  honor  to  the  man  who  dares  to 
speak  out,  dares  to  be  true  to  the  inward  voice, 
though  he  lose  caste,  position,  salary. 

The  same  courage  is  required  of  the  politician. 
How  often  the  public  clamor  for,  or  against,  the 
very  opposite  of  that  which  is  right.     In  Cali- 
fornia a  few  years  ago  there  was  a  great  fight  for 
175 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

the  exclusion  of  the  Japanese  and  Chinese.  How 
about  the  doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  man? 
Can  we  play  fast  and  loose  with  eternal  principles  ? 
No!  Let  the  true  politician  stand  by  the  truth 
and  let  the  poltroon  sacrifice  his  principles  for 
temporary  advancement  and  gain. 

There  is  not  an  employee  who  at  some  time  or 
another  is  not  called  upon  to  exercise  moral  cour- 
age. Some  are  asked  to  do  dishonest,  mean,  dis- 
reputable, contemptible  things  —  for  their  em- 
ployers. Some  have  one  temptation,  some  an- 
other. Stand  firm  for  the  highest  truth.  Be 
morally  brave  and  courageous.  Dare  to  refuse. 
Dare  to  risk  losing  your  job  rather  than  your 
character.  Dare  to  be  poor  rather  than  mean. 

One  of  the  great  temptations  of  men  and  women 
to-day  is  to  appear  better  off  than  they  are.  We 
are  all  as  good  as  everybody  else  —  so  we  say  — 
and,  therefore,  we  must  dress  as  well,  dine  as  well, 
live  as  well,  and  show  off  as  much.  What  is  the  re- 
sult in  many  cases?  Financial  worry  or  disaster 
at  best;  criminality  at  worst.  For  many  a  man 
to-day  is  in  the  penitentiary  because  he  and  his 
wife  did  not  have  the  moral  courage  to  dare  to  live 
within  their  income;  she  did  not  dare  to  wear  her 
last-year's  hat,  or  a  made-over  gown,  and  he  did 
not  dare  s'ay  No!  when  she  insisted  upon  having 
new  and  expensive  things,  or  would  not  deny  him- 
self when  his  "  set "  indulged  in  an  expensive  pas- 
176 


MORAL     COURAGE 

time  which  he  could  not  afford.  Oh,  the  pity  of  it ! 
Let  your  courage  have  a  chance  to  grow.  Plant 
the  seeds  of  moral  heroism  early,  so  that  when  the 
testing  time  comes  you  will  find  the  tree  already 
grown  to  which  you  can  cling. 

Every  boy  and  every  girl  —  no  matter  how 
young  —  has  times  when  temptations  come  which 
it  requires  moral  courage  to  resist.  Better  teach 
your  boy  the  duty,  pleasure,  and  benefit  of  this  re- 
sistance than  have  him  win  every  other  prize  of 
excellent  scholarship.  Are  you  radiating  such 
courage  so  that  your  children  feel  it?  That  they 
are  influenced  by  it?  Happy  you,  if  you  are,  for 
it  will  return  to  you  in  the  beauty,  strength,  no- 
bility, and  grandeur  of  your  boy's,  your  girl's, 
life  in  after  days  to  your  benediction  and  joy. 

The  world  is  cold  for  want  of  moral  courage. 
Turn  on  the  radiator.  Call  on  the  great  source 
for  a  full  supply  and  help  make  the  world  warm 
with  the  heroism,  the  bravery,  the  moral  courage 
it  needs. 

Possessed  in  any  degree,  however  small,  of  this 
heroism  of  the  soul,  I,  myself,  want  to  radiate  the 
consciousness  that  my  natural  and  proper  place  is 
in  the  forefront  of  every  movement  that  makes  for 
human  progress.  Most  men  are  laggards  in  human 
progress.  Of  comparatively  only  a  few  is  it  said 
in  such  things :  "  He  is  abreast  of  his  times. " 
Of  only  the  less  than  few  —  the  solitary,  the  indi- 
177 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

vidual  soldiers  —  is  it  said :  "  He  is  ahead  of  his 
times."  Here  I  want  to  find  my  place.  These  are 
the  men  and  women  with  whom  I  would  stand. 
And  I  would  so  radiate  the  spirit  of  advancement 
and  progress  that  every  awake  and  alert  soul  and 
also  every  quiescent  and  sleeping  soul  will  feel  and 
know  it  when  we  come  in  contact. 

In  November,  1910,  there  was  held  in  the  city 
of  Chicago  an  anniversary  celebration  of  the  life 
and  work  of  Theodore  Parker,  a  New  England 
Congregational  clergyman  who  lived  from  1810  to 
1860.  When  professional  philosophers,  reformers, 
and  preachers  were  discussing,  in  an  academic 
fashion,  the  question  of  human  freedom,  while 
under  our  banner  of  professed  "  human  rights  for 
all,"  the  shackles  were  on  the  hands  of  four  mil- 
lions of  slaves,  while  professional  statesmen  were 
temporizing  with  this  iniquitous  system  and  pro- 
posing compromises,  all  of  which  affected  slave 
owners,  and  none  of  them  made  the  slave  free, 
Theodore  Parker,  in  season  and  out  of  season  at 
times  appropriate  and  inappropriate,  was  a  flam- 
ing firebrand  of  passionate  utterance  against  the 
hideous  hypocrisy  of  our  national  pretense  while 
the  rattle  of  these  shackles  was  in  our  ears.  It 
was  nothing  to  him  that  the  solid  South  was 
against  him ;  it  was  of  no  weight  to  him  that  many 
of  the  "  respectable  moneyed  men  "  of  New  Eng- 
land were  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  and  that 
178 


MORAL     COURAGE 

"  practical  men  of  affairs  "  counseled  moderation, 
toleration,  and  caution  in  dealing  with  so  "  deli- 
cate "  a  subject.  He  saw  only  the  horrible  facts 
of  human  slavery,  and  that  this  slavery  existed  in 
a  land  on  whose  national  banner  were  inscribed  the 
words :  "  We  believe  it  to  be  a  self-evident  truth 
that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal,"  and  the 
only  delicacy  he  felt  was  that  the  national  con- 
science should  be  aroused  to  its  hypocrisy,  self- 
deceit,  inconsistency,  and  dishonor,  and  that  the 
slave-holding  and  slave-trading  business  should 
cease  in  this  "  land  of  the  free  and  home  of  the 
brave."  We,  to  whom  the  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation has  been  familiar  ever  since  its  promulga- 
tion, cannot  conceive  the  terrible  stir,  the  bitter 
antagonism,  the  fierce  hostility  Parker's  clear  and 
ringing  words  caused  at  the  time  of  their  utter- 
ance. In  vain  his  fellow-preachers  begged  him  to 
be  more  cautious,  to  adopt  a  more  conciliatory 
tone.  Like  Campanello,  who  took  a  bell  for  his 
crest,  and  for  his  motto  the  words,  "  I  will  not 
keep  silent,"  he  quietly  but  firmly,  calmly  but 
resolutely,  refused,  and  rang  out  all  the  louder  and 
more  insistently  his  call  to  the  drugged  conscience, 
sleeping  honor,  and  deadened  humanities  of  his 
fellow  citizens.  It  was  he  who  inspired  in  Lincoln 
that  memorable  phrase  made  forever  world-famed 
by  his  glorious  Gettysburg  speech :  "  Govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people." 
179 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Lincoln  spoke  November  19,  1863.     Parker  had 
written  in  November,  184*6,  these  words : 

Let  the  world  have  peace  for  five  hundred  years,  the 
aristocracy  of  blood  will  have  gone,  the  aristocracy  of  gold 
will  have  come  and  gone,  that  of  talent  will  also  have  come 
and  gone,  and  the  aristocracy  of  goodness,  which  is  the  de- 
mocracy of  man,  the  government  of  all,  for  all,  by  all,  will  be 
the  power  that  is.  Democracy  is  direct  self-government 
over  all  the  people,  by  all  the  people,  for  all  the  people. 

By  way  of  parenthesis,  it  is  interesting  here  to 
add  that  in  The  Christian  (a  London,  England, 
weekly  paper),  for  September  17,  1910,  there  was 
a  letter  giving  an  even  earlier  use  of  the  phrase,  as 
follows : 

SIR:  In  your  report  of  Principal  Carpenter's  striking 
speech  at  Budapest,  you  cite  his  reference  to  the  well-known 
fact  that  "  It  was  from  Parker  that  Abraham  Lincoln  bor- 
rowed his  famous  phrase,  *  Government  of  the  people,  for 
the  people  and  by  the  people.'"  But  the  further  fact 
should  be  remembered  that  Parker  himself  borrowed  it  — 
doubtless  through  his  perusal  of  the  current  Monthly  Re- 
pository—  from  Rev.  Robert  Aspland,  our  once-famous 
Hackney  minister.  It  occurs  in  Mr.  Aspland's  speech  at 
the  great  Whig  banquet  of  1828,  which  celebrated  the  re- 
peal of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts,  and  at  which, 
amongst  many  distinguished  speakers,  Mr.  Aspland,  by 
common  consent,  bore  away  the  palm  of  eloquence. —  AN 
Ex-M.  P. 

These  facts  in  the  history  of  a  great  phrase  I 

am  glad  to  present,  but  the  most  important  fact 

is  not  the  name  of  the  originator,  but  the  names  of 

the  men  who  made  the  phrase  live  in  the  hearts  of 

180 


MORAL     COURAGE 

their  fellows  as  biting,  stinging,  awakening  truths. 
Parker  was  one  of  these.  Lloyd  Garrison,  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  John  G.  Whittier,  Lowell,  John 
Brown,  Lovejoy,  Lincoln,  were  others.  And  you 
and  I,  friendly  reader,  are  to-day  basking  in  the 
fuller  and  larger  sunlight  of  freedom  let  into  the 
house  of  our  common  humanity  by  the  fearless, 
uncompromising,  daring  courage  of  these  men. 

Let  us  not  be  laggards  in  the  army  of  human 
progress ;  nor  content  even  to  be  abreast  with  the 
times.  Let  us  be  athirst  for  deeper  waters,  clearer 
streams.  Let  us  get  nearer  the  mountain  top  than 
either  of  these  two  crowds.  Let  us  drink  of  the 
fountain  spring  itself  and  know  nothing  else  but 
the  fundamental  principles  of  human  relationship, 
and,  drinking  of  them  to  the  full,  go  forth  and 
radiate  them  in  their  original  purity,  sweetness, 
and  power,  diluted  only  by  our  imperfect  human 
expression.  Let  us,  in  this  and  all  similar  mat- 
ters, make  the  words  of  Browning  ours,  that  we 
may  ringingly  declare  to  the  world  as  well  as 
quietly  radiate  them: 

What  had  I  on  Earth  to  do 

With  the  slothful,  with  the  mawkish,  the  unmanly? 
Like   the   aimless,  helpless,   hopeless,   did   I   drivel  —  Being 

—  who? 

One  who  never  turned  his  back  but  marched  breast  forward, 
Never  doubted  clouds  would  break, 
Never  dreamed,  though  right  were  worsted,  wrong  would 

triumph, 

Held  we  fall  to  rise,  are  baffled  to  fight  better,  sleep  to  wake, 
181 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Let  us  not  merely  come  in  for  the  rewards  of 
life's  conflicts  in  which  the  few  battle  for  the  rights 
of  the  many.  Let  us  be  in  the  forefront  of  the 
battle  array;  even  if  only  as  standard-bearers,  or 
buglers,  or  drummer  boys  in  the  forefront  of  the 
advance  army,  and  though  our  hearts  are  often 
shaken  by  human  cowardice,  let  our  souls  triumph 
and  keep  our  faces  towards  the  foe,  courage  at 
fighting  pitch,  resolution  indomitable,  purpose  in- 
vincible, so  that,  if  fall  we  must,  we  shall  fall  with 
eyes  heavenward,  and  breast  fearlessly  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  the  enemy. 

I  know  of  no  conflict  now  as  severe  as  the  fight 
for  the  abolition  of  the  slave,  yet  I  am  in  the  fight 
to  help  women  gain  the  suffrage,  and  in  the  tem- 
perance reform.  I  have  been  abused  by  my  scien- 
tific friends  as  an  anti-vaccinator  and  anti-vivisec- 
tionist ;  have  been  threatened  with  a  thrashing 
several  times  for  interfering  with  brutal  teamsters 
and  others  who  were  cruel  to  animals  and  children ; 
have  lost  caste  and  position  (with  a  few  people) 
because  I  would  rebuke  corporate  injustice,  greed, 
and  tyranny ;  I  have  cast  behind  me  much  money 
because  it  was  offered  me  in  exchange  for  my  inde- 
pendence and  freedom.  These  are  small  things  as 
compared  with  the  heroic  acts  of  the  giants  of 
past  days,  but  they  are  the  deeds  my  soul  has  been 
called  to  face.  And  I  mention  them  not  in  boast- 
ing, but  as  another  "  declaration  of  principles," 
183 


MORAL     COURAGE 

principles  I  wish  to  radiate  on  every  hand,  under 
all  circumstances,  to  all  people. 

For  I  am  anxious  and  determined  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  my  ability,  I  will  do  my  share 
of  the  work  of  my  time  for  the  benefit  of  the  future. 
What  would  we  be  to-day  without  the  advantages 
of  Magna  Charta,  of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation?  Who  won  these  charters  of  our 
liberty?  The  heroes  of  the  past.  Then  the  ques- 
tions I  constantly  ask  myself  are :  "  What  are 
you  doing  to  add  to  these  liberties  to  hand  on  to 
future  ages?  You  have  received  freely;  how  are 
you  giving?  I  want  to  help  make  the  future  more 
glad  and  blessed,  just  as  my  present  has  been  made 
glad  by  the  actions  of  the  heroes  of  old.  I  have 
been  inspired  to  high  resolves,  heroic  endeavors, 
blessed  ambitions  by  what  they  achieved.  Am  I 
doing  anything  to  pass  on  these  high  inspirations 
to  endeavor  and  ambition?  These  men  met  oblo- 
quy, hatred,  shame,  contumely,  contempt,  danger, 
financial  loss,  physical  peril,  and  in  John  Brown's, 
Lovejoy's,  and  other  cases,  death,  because  of  their 
daring  advocacy  of  unpopular  movements.  Shall 
I  be  any  the  less  a  man  than  they?  Shall  I  have 
received  so  much,  and  then  be  craven  and  pass  on 
so  little? 

I  believe  that  each  generation  must  pay  interest 
in  kind  on  all  their  heritage  of  the  past,  or  they 
183 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

mark  the  period  of  a  nation's  decline.  Unless  we 
are  better,  nobler,  truer,  more  advanced,  more 
free,  more  progressive,  more  generous,  more  phil- 
anthropic, more  daring,  courageous,  lion-hearted 
than  our  forefathers,  we  have  defaulted  in  our  in- 
terest. And  defaulters  are  always  cowards  if 
nothing  worse.  Let  us  not  be  cowards. 

In  California  there  are  strong  movements 
against  the  Japanese  and  the  Chinese.  It  is  easy 
to  join  the  popular  side,  but  it  takes  strength  of 
heart  and  courage  of  mind  and  body  sometimes  to 
stand  on  the  other  side.  I  want  to  radiate  my 
firm  and  unshakable  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
human  brotherhood,  regardless  of  color,  nation- 
ality, prejudice,  or  selfish  and  personal  interest. 
Though  the  Japanese  and  Chinese,  in  open  and 
honest  business  competition,  take  away  my  work, 
even  then  I  want  to  radiate  my  firm  belief  in  the 
universal  brotherhood  of  man.  And  I  want  to  do 
it  without  hesitation,  as  well  as  without  fear. 
Hesitation  too  often  means  temporizing,  evasion, 
shuffling,  and  I  do  not  want  to  place  myself  open 
to  any  temptation  to  these  things.  Hence  I 
would  be  prompt  and  outspoken  in  my  adherence 
and  advocacy  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
human  brotherhood  regardless  of  personal  conse- 
quences and  indifferent  alike  to  praise  or  blame. 

I  believe  in  human  democracy,  in  human  free- 
dom, in  the  equality  of  men  and  women ;  in  moral- 
184 


MORAL    COURAGE 

ity,  government,  and  household  control;  in  re- 
sisting all  tyrannies,  whether  of  law,  medicine, 
theology,  or  society ;  in  the  uplift  of  all  the  crimi- 
nal and  downtrodden;  in  the  fair  division  of  the 
profits  of  all  labor;  in  the  jealous  preservation  of 
the  independence  of  every  man  and  every  woman; 
in  the  right  of  every  child  to  be  well  born  and  wel- 
comed, and  of  every  woman  to  determine,  without 
dictation  from  any  one,  whether  she  shall  bear  a 
child  or  not;  in  the  abolition  of  all  war;  in  the 
disarmament  of  all  nations ;  in  the  abolition  of 
land  monopoly;  in  submitting  every  question  to 
the  test  —  the  greatest  possible  good  to  the  great- 
est number.  These,  as  I  now  recall  them,  are  the 
cardinal  principles  of  my  belief,  my  adherence  to 
which  I  would  fearlessly,  without  hesitation  or 
equivocation,  ever  and  always  radiate. 


185 


CHAPTER  XVI 

RADIANCIES   OF   CONTENT  AND  DISCONTENT 


I 


WANT  to  radiate  a  spirit  of  content.  The 
dictionary  says  that  to  be  content  is  to  be  "  held 
full."  If  one  is  full,  that  is  enough.  He  is  satis- 
fied. He  has  peace  of  mind.  All  this  is  implied 
in  the  word  content.  I  want  to  radiate  this  sense 
of  fullness,  of  satisfaction.  I  want  people  to  feel 
that  I  am  full  of  physical  health,  full  of  mental 
vigor,  full  of  spiritual  power,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tions that  I  shall  note  later  on  in  this  chapter, 
that  I  am  satisfied. 

I  want  to  radiate  a  large-hearted  contentment 
with  things  as  they  are.  I  am  content  with  the 
world  as  it  is.  Its  glories,  its  beauties,  its  charms, 
its  allurements,  its  variety,  satisfy  me.  There  is 
nothing  in  scenery  that  the  mind  can  conceive  that 
I  cannot  find;  every  sort  of  climate  is  offered  to 
me.  I  can  surround  myself  with  people  or  I  can 
dwell  in  the  virgin  solitudes.  I  can  live  under  the 
gray  skies  of  the  East  or  under  the  cerulean  blue 
of  the  West.  The  snow-covered  heights  of  the 
Himalayas  are  mine  or  the  wastes  of  the  Sahara. 
I  can  toss  on  the  stormy  ocean  or  bask  in  the  sun- 
186 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

kissed  gardens  of  the  South.     It  is  a  glorious, 
beautiful,  blessed  world. 

Yet  I  hear  people  complaining  on  every  hand. 
It  is  too  hot,  or  they  wish  it  hadn't  rained.  Why 
does  the  wind  blow  so  fiercely?  The  snow  has  just 
come  at  the  wrong  time.  Then,  too,  they  find 
fault  with  the  every-day  occurrences  of  life.  They 
are  angry  because  they  missed  a  train,  have  failed 
to  carry  through  a  business  transaction,  were  de- 
layed and  lost  an  important  appointment.  The 
other  day  I  met  a  young  man  holding  his  wris-t, 
and  with  a  look  of  severe  pain  on  his-  face.  In 
doing  some  work  in  the  gymnasium  he  hurt  his 
hand  and  wrist.  It  is  hard  to  radiate  contentment 
under  the  annoyance  and  pain  of  such  things  as 
this  and  the  circumstances  I  have  mentioned.  Yet 
in  these,  as  in  all  other  things  in  life,  I  believe  with 
Shakspere : 

There  is  a  Divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough  hew  them  as  we  may. 

Many  a  time  it  is  the  best  thing  in  the  world 
to  have  lost  an  appointment,  to  have  missed  a 
train,  to  have  sprained  one's  wrist.  The  wet 
weather  is  as  good  as  the  sunshine,  and  the  storm 
equally  beneficent  with  the  calm.  Hence  I  want 
to  be  content  and  to  radiate  my  content  with 
things  as  they  are.  Discontent  is  a  burning  acid. 
It  eats  away  the  happy,  blessed  things  of  life.  It 
1ST 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

destroys  the  beauty  of  an  otherwise  perfect  life. 
It  takes  away  the  smile  and  substitutes  a  frown. 
It  injects  bitterness  into  words  that  would  other- 
wise be  sweet.  It  changes  the  kind  word  into  an 
angry  curse.  And  it  burns  and  corrodes  far 
deeper  than  one  imagines. 

I  once  had  a  surgical  operation  in  which  a  se- 
vere corroding  substance  was  injected  into  a  cer- 
tain part  of  my  body.  My  physicians,  men  of 
wisdom  and  men  who  loved  me,  thought  they  knew 
how  much  that  corrosive  substance  would  burn. 
But  it  burned  far  more  severely  and  destroyed 
much  more  tissue  than  they  conceived,  and  my  life 
came  near  to  paying  the  penalty.  Discontent 
works  in  exactly  the  same  way,  only  worse.  Its 
burnings  are  of  the  mind,  and,  therefore,  more  seri- 
ously injurious.  Its  burns  are  deep  and  uncer- 
tain. To  put  it  in  another  way  —  it  sours  the 
milk  of  human  kindness.  It  turns  the  butter 
rancid.  It  pulls  down  the  shades  and  shuts  out 
the  sunlight.  It  turns  the  steam  off  from  the  radi- 
ator. It  shuts  out  the  fresh  air.  It  banishes  the 
fairies  of  jollity,  healthfulness,  happiness,  and 
content. 

Do  not  radiate  discontent,  therefore,  but  radi- 
ate a  glorious,  buoyant,  exuberant  contentment. 
Think  of  the  books  we  have  to-day,  as  compared 
with  those  possessed  by  people  who  lived  a  few 
hundred  years  ago  —  the  poems,  the  dramas,  the 
188 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

essays,  the  histories,  the  novels,  the  accounts  of 
adventure  and  travel,  the  revelations  of  science. 
Think  how  cheap  they  are,  how  easy  to  obtain. 
Think  of  the  public  libraries  established  in  almost 
every  city,  town,  and  village  of  the  civilized  world. 
In  many  states  they  have  now  established  a  method 
by  means  of  which  the  library  systems  may  become 
county-wide  in  their  influences  instead  of  confined 
to  the  cities  and  towns.  Books  are  being  sent  to 
the  remotest  farmhouse,  to  the  shack  of  the  lum- 
berman, the  moving  home  of  the  sheep-herder,  the 
log  hut  of  the  miner,  anywhere,  everywhere  that  a 
human  hand  is  seen  stretched  forth  for  a  book,  the 
new  library  system  seeks  to  reach. 

Think  of  the  music  of  to-day  J  The  great 
bands,  the  marvelous  orchestras,  the  soul-inspiring 
choruses,  the  wonderfully  equipped  opera  compa- 
nies, '  the  cheapness  of  the  organ  and  piano,  the 
universality  of  the  graphophone,  with  its  records 
of  music  of  every  character  that  can  be  heard  in 
the  humblest  home. 

Think  of  the  multiplication  of  the  opportunities 
for  hearing  the  drama,  some  good,  some  indifferent, 
some  bad,  but  all  more  or  less  revealing  artistic 
power  and  calling  forth  the  satisfaction  of  the 
onlookers. 

Think  of  the  spread  of  educational  opportuni- 
ties, the  public  schools,  the  colleges,  the  universi- 
ties, the  correspondence  schools,  the  women's  clubs 
189 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

and  leagues.  I  went  through  a  high  school  the 
other  day  that  was  ten  times  better  equipped  for 
the  higher  education,  as  far  as  it  went,  than  the 
universities  were  a  hundred  years  ago. 

Think  of  the  ease  with  which  we  travel  —  elec- 
tric cars,  railway  trains,  automobiles,  flying  ma- 
chines. 

Think  of  the  annihilation  of  distance  in  con- 
versing with  our  friends,  the  telephone,  the  tele- 
graph, the  telepost,  the  wireless. 

Think  of  the  opportunities  of  enjoyment  and 
education  offered  to  the  poor  in  our  large  cities  by 
means  of  the  parks,  the  children's  playgrounds, 
the  free  museums,  and  the  art  galleries. 

Think  of  the  improvements  during  late  years  in 
the  conditions  of  home  life  —  the  application  of 
gas  and  electricity  for  lighting,  heating,  cooking, 
ironing,  and,  now,  even  for  sweeping  and  cleaning 
up. 

Think  of  the  improvements  of  the  condition  of 
lives  of  our  farmers  and  their  laborers  in  the  re- 
mote districts.  Little  by  little  the  conditions  of 
life  are  being  made  easier  for  them.  Labor  is 
being  lightened  and  the  hours  shortened,  uncer- 
tainties are  being  eliminated,  results  made  more 
sure. 

Think  of  the  growing  spirit  of  freedom  and 
true  democracy,  of  brotherhood  and  comradeship 
that  are  welding  the  world  together  in  the  bonds 
190 


CONTENT     AND    DISCONTENT1 

of  humanitarian  brotherhood ;  treaties  between  na- 
tions, federations  of  nations,  world's  fairs,  the 
Red  Cross  movement,  The  Hague  Peace  Tribunal, 
arbitration  instead  of  war,  and  agitation  for  the 
reduction  of  armies  and  navies.* 

One  has  but  to  study  the  changes  that  have 
taken  place  in  our  civilization  since  Dickens  began 
to  write,  for  instance,  to  see  how  wonderfully 
the  world  has  progressed.  He  wrote  Nicholas 
Nickleby  to  call  attention  to  the  horrible  abuses 
existent  in  boys'  boarding  schools,  where  boys, 
who  for  any  reason  were  desired  out  of  the  way  at 
home,  were  put  in  charge  of  human  fiends  in  the 
guise  of  "  schoolmasters."  Step-children,  heirs 
who  were  in  the  way,  natural  children,  and  those 

*  This  was  written  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of 
1914-15,  when  "  hell  was  let  loose  in  Europe."  Yet  I  do  not 
feel  inclined  to  change  one  single  line  of  what  I  then  wrote. 
During  1915,  I  was  engaged  speaking  daily  to  large  audi- 
ences at  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition  in  San  Francisco  — 
I  estimate  that  I  addressed  not  less  than  300,000  people  dur- 
ing that  time.  In  many  of  these  addresses  I  expressed  my 
thoughts  about  the  hideousness,  the  needlessness,  the  waste, 
the  devilishness  of  war,  with  open  frankness,  and  without 
a  single  exception  my  denunciations  of  the  system  of  war 
were  received  with  hearty  applause.  I  refer  to  this  merely 
as  an  index  as  to  what  I  believe  is  the  general  thought  of 
all  intelligent  people  on  the  subject.  All  except  war-mad 
and  war-hypnotized  people  hate  war  and  desire  to  see  it 
abolished,  and  the  higher  standards  of  brotherly  and  ami- 
cable conference  and  equitable  adjustment  of  difficulties  take 
its  place.  That  nations  were  urged  into  the  European  con- 
flict is  no  proof  that  they  love  war.  It  is  rather  a  proof 
that  they  hate  war  enough  to  die  to  make  future  wars  im- 
possible. This,  I  sincerely  hope  and  confidently  expect,  will 
be  the  tendency  of  the  result,  if  not  an  actually  accomplished 
result. 

191 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

whose  parents  had  no  natural  affection  for  them, 
were  pufc  into  these  dens,  and  so  cruelly  abused 
that  they  often  died ;  and  at  the  best  they  dragged 
out  their  miserable  existence  afraid  of  what  each 
hour  of  the  day  might  bring  forth  and  finding 
only  in  their  troubled  sleep  the  relief  from  the 
active  cruelties  they  were  made  to  bear. 

Little  Dorrit  graphically  pictured  the  hor- 
rors of  the  "  prison  for  debt  "  system,  and  in  the 
wonderfully  painted  character  of  Little  Dorrit's 
father,  Dickens  showed  how  every  human  trait  and 
feeling,  every  noble  passion  and  emotion  was 
dwarfed,  twisted,  distorted,  and  perverted  by  the 
action  of  this  unnatural,  cruel,  and  monstrous  law. 

Barnaby  Rudge  called  equally  vivid  attention 
to  the  laws  which  placed  political  disabilities  upon 
Jews  and  Roman  Catholics,  rendering  them  in- 
capable of  voting  and  holding  office  throughout 
the  British  dominions,  and  sought  to  remove  the 
hatred,  prejudice,  and  dissensions  which  unnatural 
acts  of  Parliament  always  caused. 

In  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities  the  curse  of  caste  is 
revealed;  the  inevitable  results  of  giving  special 
privileges  to  a  so-called  aristocratic  class,  and 
while  its  teachings  were  veiled  as  being  connected 
with  incidents  in  the  French  Revolution  they  were 
a  wonderful  help  to  the  forwarding  of  true  ideas 
of  pure  democracy  and  genuine  recognition  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 
192 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

In  Martin  Chuzzlewit  the  theme  is  the  horrors 
of  the  "  Circumlocution  Office  " —  that  vast,  hide- 
ous, monstrous  juggernaut  that  rode  rough-shod 
over  all  justice,  truth,  honor,  right,  decency,  and 
sincerity,  by  its  evasions,  quibblings,  dodgings, 
twinings,  twistings,  and  deliberate  perversions  of 
the  truth. 

Other  writers  made  their  novels  the  themes  of 
similar  crying  abuses  that  needed  reform.  Henry 
Cockton  wrote  his  Valentine  Vox  the  Ventriloquist 
to  expose  the  hideous  dealings  of  private  mad- 
houses, where  helpless  men  and  women  were  con- 
fined by  law,  who  were  perfectly  sane,  yet  who 
were  in  the  way  of  dishonest  lawyers,  judges,  ad- 
ministrators, heirs,  or  relations.  I  can  never  for- 
get the  powerful  and  terrible  impression  this 
story  made  upon  me,  though  it  is  nearly  forty 
years  since  I  read  it,  especially  where  the  author 
described  what  it  is  said  he  himself  had  had  to 
pass  through,  when  he  was  driven  into  temporary 
insanity  by  being  strapped  to  his  cot  while  fiends 
in  human  form  mocked  and  taunted  him  and  at  the 
same  time  "  tickled  his  feet  "  until  he  was  a  raging 
maniac. 

To  the  people  of  to-day  the  term  "  Chartist " 
means  nothing.  Nine-tenths  of  the  population  of 
the  United  States  possibly  never  heard  the  term. 
Yet  it  is  only  a  few  generations  since  men  were  sen- 
tenced to  "  Botany  Bay  "  and  other  penal  settle- 
193 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

ments  for  twenty,  thirty,  and  more  years,  and 
sometimes  "for  life,"  for  joining  in  this  reform 
which  demanded  certain  rights  that  we  have  en- 
joyed without  a  thought  ever  since  we  were  born. 
One  of  these  grand  old  warriors  for  man's  greater 
freedom  used  to  visit  at  my  father's  house  when  I 
was  a  lad.  He  was  an  intellectual  giant  who  had 
won  the  honor  and  fame  the  world  freely  accords 
to  those  who  do  not  take  it  by  the  throat  too  se- 
verely, and  once  in  a  while  he  could  be  induced 
to  tell  of  the  days  of  his  earlier  conflict ;  —  how 
that  he  and  his  compeers  fought  for  a  repeal  of  the 
corn  laws  —  laws  which  made  it  almost  impossible 
for  a  poor  man  to  get  bread  —  and  for  the  right  of 
a  man  to  sell  the  products  of  his  own  labor  from 
door  to  door  to  save  himself  from  starvation. 
He  was  imprisoned  and  sentenced  for  a  long  term 
of  years  and  while  in  prison  wrote  a  poem  of  tre- 
mendous power  and  influence.  How  my  heart 
burned  to  the  old  warrior,  and  I  then  and  there 
declared  that 

I  live  to  learn  their  story 

Who've  suffered  for  my  sake, 
To  emulate  their  glory, 

And  to  follow  in  their  wake: 

For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance. 

Then,  too,  how  I  recall  the  fight  for  religious 
freedom  in  England  —  some  of  it  before  my  time, 
194 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

but  some  of  it  under  my  own  eyes,  and  in  which 
I  had  the  joy  of  bearing  a  small  part.  The  Lord 
George  Gordon  riots,  described  by  Dickens  in 
Barndby  Rudge,  were  provoked  by  religious  hos- 
tility. When  I  was  a  boy,  no  Jew  or  Catholic 
could  hold  office  in  England  —  I  think  I  am  cor- 
rect. This  act,  passed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II 
—  I  write  from  memory  —  was  thus  in  operation 
for  two  hundred  years ;  two  hundred  years  of  in- 
justice, prejudice,  fostering  of  religious  hatred 
and  separations.  Yet  Benjamin  Disraeli  made  a 
great  premier,  and  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
statesmen  of  Europe,  and  the  Howard  family,  Car- 
dinal Manning,  and  Cardinal  Newman,  all  of  whom 
were  Roman  Catholics,  were  loved  and  revered  on 
every  hand  for  their  enlightened  patriotism  and 
the  help  they  gave  to  everything  that  had  the  wel- 
fare of  England  at  heart.  It  was  a  glad  day  for 
England  that  saw  the  removal  of  the  disabilities 
from  such  good  citizens  as  these,  merely  because 
they  chose  to  exercise  their  perfect  God-given  right 
of  freedom  of  choice  in  religious  belief.  And  still, 
even  as  late  as  the  ascension  to  the  throne  of 
George  V,  son  of  King  Edward,  and  grandson  of 
that  progressive  and  liberal-minded  Queen,  Vic- 
toria, there  remained  in  the  oath  a  hateful  spirit 
of  narrowness  and  intolerance  against  Catholic 
beliefs.  Thirty  to  forty  years  previously  Charles 
Bradlaugh  was  refused  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
195 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Commons  because  he  desired  to  "  affirm  "  instead 
of  "  taking  the  oath."  He  was  an  "  unbeliever," 
and  claimed  his  right  to  be  such,  and  yet  to  take 
his  seat  as  a  representative  of  the  people  without 
being  compelled  to  swear  to  an  oath  in  which  he 
did  not  believe.  He  was  fought  an  every  hand, 
and  with  physical  violence;  yet  he  kept  resolutely 
on  with  the  conflict,  until  I  saw  him  myself,  with 
joy,  take  his  place  before  the  speaker  of  the  House, 
victorious.  Yet  I  am  not  an  unbeliever,  nor  do  I 
accept  Bradlaugh's  conclusions  as  to  God  and  the 
making  of  the  universe.  Nor  is  it  necessary. 
Equally  so  it  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  at- 
tempt to  force  my  ideas  down  his  throat  and  if 
he  refuse  to  say  that  he  swallows  them  should  seek 
to  keep  him  from  exercising  his  political  rights. 

To  us,  living  to-day,  it  seems  impossible  that  a 
great  civil  war  was  necessary  ere  the  shackles 
were  shaken  from  the  limbs  of  four  millions  of 
slaves ;  it  seems  incredible  that  New  Englanders  as 
well  as  Southerners  were  engaged  in  fostering  the 
iniquitous  slave  trade  —  the  murderous  trade  in 
human  flesh  and  blood.  Grant  everything  the 
South  claims  to-day  as  to  the  difficulty  of  handling 
the  negro  problem,  that  does  not  alter  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence that  "  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they 
are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalien- 
able rights ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and 
196 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

the  pursuit  of  happiness."  To  us  it  seems  incredi- 
ble that  honest  and  honorable  men,  clear-sighted, 
clear-brained  religious  men  who  knew  the  value  of 
words  and  their  meaning,  could  have  so  befuddled 
their  intellects,  let  alone  their  moral  nature,  as 
to  dare  to  read  these  words  and  at  the  same  time 
own  slaves.  Yet  it  was  so,  and  not  until  the  he- 
roes whose  work  led  ultimately  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  for  the  slave,  called  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation,  set  their  faces  against  this 
great  iniquity,  was  anything  done  to  mitigate  its 
evils. 

How  well  do  I  recall  the  endeavors  of  many 
Englishmen  to  induce  the  Government  to  interfere 
with  the  Turks  and  prevent  further  infliction  of 
horrible  and  murderous  atrocities  upon  the  Bul- 
garians and  other  subject  people,  because  of  reli- 
gious differences.  But  "  politics  stood  in  the 
way."  And  yet  I  heard  the  words  of  Cleveland 
ring  around  the  world  when  he  bade  England: 
"  Hands  off,"  from  Venezuela.  Again  was  I 
thrilled  when  McKinley  justified  the  prophecy  of 
Joaquin  Miller,  uttered  nearly  thirty  years  pre- 
viously, in  his  Cuba  Libre,  where  he  declared : 

She  shall  rise,  by  all  that's  holy! 
She  shall  live  and  she  shall  last; 

She  shall  rise  as  rose  Columbus, 

From  his  chains,  from  shame  and  wrong  — 

Rise  as  Morning,  matchless,  wondrous  — 

197 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Rise  as  some  rich  morning  song  — 
Rise  a  ringing  song,  and  story, 
Valor,  Love  personified. 
Stars  and  stripes  espouse  her  glory, 
Love   and   Liberty   allied. 

The  time  came  when  we  "  flashed  her  lights  of 
freedom,"  as  we  had  done  before,  but  this  time 
there  was  an  admixture  of  personal  feeling  in 
which  the  cry,  "  Remember  the  Maine,"  bore  a 
large  part.  Yet  the  main  issue  was  raised,  viz., 
the  intervention  of  a  strong  power  to  prevent  an- 
other strong  power  from  too  seriously  oppressing 
a  confessedly  weak  power.  This  is  a  step  in  the 
right  direction.  The  bully,  whether  in  school,  in 
the  street,  in  business,  or  among  nations,  should 
be  taught  that  his  bullying  is  unsafe,  and  that  if 
he  must  fight  he  must  choose  a  "  fellow  of  his  own 
size." 

While  I  do  not  close  my  eyes  to  the  facts  that 
nations  are  human  and  liable  to  err,  I  hail  this  as 
a  great  forward  step,  and  was  filled  with  rejoicing 
when  the  United  States  Government  refused  to 
accept  any  indemnity  from  China  for  its  share  of 
the  expense  of  putting  down  the  last  great  Boxer 
Rebellion. 

In  our  National  and  State  governments  there  is 
a  growing  spirit  of  righteous  intervention.  In  his 
last  presidential  message,  President  Taft  voiced 
this  spirit  in  his  recommendation  of  an  enlarged 
measure  of  protection  for  railroad  employees,  and 
198 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

states  and  cities  are  moving  more  rapidly  than  ever 
before  in  the  enactment  of  laws  and  ordinances  for 
the  protection  of  those  least  able  to  protect  them- 
selves. 

Reforms  in  law  procedure  are  progressing.  In 
his  1910  message,  President  Taft  thus  spoke: 

One  great  crying  need  in  the  United  States  is  cheapening 
the  cost  of  litigation  by  simplifying  judicial  procedure  and 
expediting  final  judgment.  Under  present  conditions  the 
poor  man  is  at  a  woeful  disadvantage  in  a  legal  contest 
with  a  corporation  or  a  rich  opponent.  The  necessity  for 
this  reform  exists  both  in  United  States  courts  and  in  all 
state  courts.  In  order  to  bring  it  about,  however,  it  nat- 
urally falls  to  the  general  government  by  its  example  to 
furnish  a  model  to  all  States. 

This  is  a  great  step  in  the  right  direction.  The 
honest  and  manly  recognition  of  a  crying  evil  is 
often  the  beginning  of  its  removal,  and  I  sincerely 
hope  to  live  to  see  the  day  when  our  laws,  and  legis- 
lative procedure,  will  truthfully  be  equally  for  the 
poor  and  the  rich. 

The  activity  of  the  Federal  Government  in  pur- 
suing the  nefarious  malefactors  who  are  conduct- 
ing the  "  white  slave  traffic,"  is  also  a  sign  of 
marked  improvement  in  affording  protection  to 
those  who  are  helpless  and  often  unable  and  incom- 
petent to  know  what  to  do  for  their  own  welfare. 

And  how  I  hail  with  joy  the  movement  so  ener- 
getically furthered  by  Mr.  Bok,  of  the  Ladies9 
Home  Journal,  the  Bishop  of  London,  the  Physl- 
199 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

cal  Culture  magazine,  Collier's,  and  others,  for  the 
education  of  the  young  of  both  sexes  as  to  the 
sacred  relations  of  sex  and  all  they  imply.  The 
W.  C.  T.  U.  has  done  a  little,  the  magazines  and 
physical  culture  movement  more,  and  now  the  bet- 
ter schools  —  such  as  the  Polytechnic  High  School 
of  Los  Angeles,  and  the  High  School  in  Pasadena, 
California  —  are  giving  definite  and  specific  in- 
struction upon  these  matters  to  boys  and  girls 
whose  parents  have  been  remiss  in  neglecting  this 
all-important  part  of  their  home  education  and 
training. 

The  pure  food  bill  is  another  step  forward  in 
our  national  progress ;  the  great  conservation 
movement  and  the  work  of  the  United  States 
Reclamation  Service,  which  is  providing  means  for 
irrigating  the  soil  and  thus  rendering  possible  the 
establishment  of  thousands  of  homes  on  lands  that 
otherwise  would  be  arid  and  useless  —  these  are 
gigantic  strides  of  advancement.  The  postal- 
savings  bank  and  parcels  post  are  already  facts, 
thus  demonstrating  that,  little  by  little,  the  powers 
that  have  controlled  our  Government,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  few,  instead  of  for  all  the  people,  and 
especially  those  who  need  such  benefit  the  most, 
are  gradually  losing  their  hold.  Soon,  let  us 
hope,  we  shall  have  the  "  penny  postage  " —  one 
cent  for  a  letter  instead  of  two,  as  now.  The  ex- 
tension of  the  eight-hour  day  law;  the  honest  en- 
200 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

deavors  now  being  made  to  give  labor  a  fair  oppor- 
tunity to  state  its  needs  and  requirements  and  thus 
help  bring  oppressive  employers  to  time,  are  also 
forward  steps.  Granted  that  labor  often  makes 
unreasonable  and  unjust  demands,  let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten that  it  is  only  within  the  last  few  decades 
that  they  have  been  allowed  to  have  a  voice  at  all. 
For  centuries  they  have  been  "  chained  to  the  wheel 
of  labor," 

The  emptiness  of  ages  in  their  face, 
And  on  their  back  the  burden  of  the  world. 

What  if,  now  that  "  whirlwinds  of  rebellion  " 
are  shaking  the  world  and  these  hitherto  "  dumb 
terrors  "  have  found,  or  are  finding,  a  voice,  they 
speak  a  little  too  loudly,  or  too  harshly,  or  ask 
more  than  they  ought?  Whose  fault  is  it?  Who 
has  kept  them  in  bondage  so  long?  They  will 
learn,  by  and  by,  to  speak  more  rationally,  but 
this  will  come  only  by  speaking,  so  I  hail  with  de- 
light the  fact  that  "  the  rulers  and  lords  of  all 
lands  "  are  recognizing  their  right  to  be  heard, 
and  are  more  or  less  respectfully  listening  to  what 
they  have  to  say. 

It  is  another  grand  sign  of  universal  progress 
that  the  owners  and  landlords  of  vile  tenement 
houses,  of  the  horrible  kennels  in  which  human 
beings  in  the  past  used  to  be  penned  as  in  pig- 
sties, are  no  longer  allowed  to  reap  monetary  re- 
201 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

wards  from  such  abominable  and  cursed  holes. 
Boards  of  health,  civic  improvement  bodies,  tene- 
ment reform  associations  are  taking  upon  them- 
selves the  work  of  protecting  the  poor,  helpless, 
and  often  unfortunate  dwellers  in  these  plague 
spots  and  compelling  that  they  be  made  decent, 
healthful,  and  sanitary  — r  often  seeing  that  they 
are  razed  and  entirely  removed.  What  though 
oftentimes  the  people  who  dwell  in  these  places  are 
brought  thither  by  their  own  misconduct?  Are 
men,  women,  and  innocent  children  to  be 
"  damned  "  on  this  earth  —  as  well  as  in  the  fu- 
ture—  because  morally  they  have  been  weak  and 
unfortunate?  The  greater  the  weakness  and  the 
lower  the  fall,  the  greater  the  cry  and  need  for 
help.  Jacob  Riis  was  a  brave  and  heroic  leader  in 
New  York,  William  Booth  and  his  gallant  army 
in  London  and  the  thousand  and  one  other  cities 
of  the  world,  and  the  day  is  dawning  when  there 
will  be  no  "  slums  "  in  any  decent,  self-respecting 
city,  when  such  books  as  How  the  Other  Half 
Lives,  The  Submerged  Tenth,  If  Christ  Came  to 
Chicago,  and  The  People  of  the  Abyss  can  no 
longer  be  written,  for  the  true-hearted,  loving, 
brotherly,  and  sisterly,  will  have  been  aroused  to 
do  their  plain,  simple,  and  manifest  duty  and 
"  slums,"  "  abysses,"  and  "  plague  spots  "  will 
cease  to  exist. 

There  are  many  other  excellent  things  I  might 
202 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

comment  upon  that  help  bring  content  to  the  soul. 
They  betoken  a  glorious  and  blessed  improvement 
upon  the  "  days  of  things  as  they  were "  and 
they  should  lead  every  man  to  get  into  line,  to 
find  the  step  and  keep  it,  marching  on  with  this 
vanguard  of  human  progress,  which  seeks  the  best 
possible  condition  of  body,  mind,  and  soul  for  all 
men. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  this  large-hearted  contentment 
with  things  as  they  are,  and  with  the  way  the 
world  generally  is  progressing,  which  I  would  radi- 
ate, I  would  equally  radiate  a  great  discontent 
with  many  things  as  they  are.  When  I  look  at 
my  own  faults  and  failings,  my  inadequacies  and 
incompetencies,  my  blindness  and  stupidity,  my 
ignorance  and  willfulness,  I  find  much  of  my  con- 
tent disappear  like  the  airy  visions  of  a  dream.  I 
certainly  do  not  want  to  be  content  with  these 
things  and  so  I  call  up  as  often  as  I  can  a  mighty 
discontent  which  is  a  constant  urge  to  the  higher, 
nobler,  truer,  better  life.  I  am  as  self-willed  as 
other  men,  and  yet  I  well  know  tha.t  human  will  is 
both  ignorant  and  blind,  and  that  only  when  it  is 
made  subject  to  the  Great  Controlling  Will  of 
the  Universe  will  it  lead  me  aright  and  in  the 
paths  of  ultimate,  permanent  success.  And  by 
success,  I  do  not  mean  the  paltry  thing  most  men 
regard  as  success.  I  certainly  wish  to  radiate 
discontent  with  what  men  generally  regard  as  suc- 
203 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

cess.  Mere  money,  fame,  honor,  social  distinc- 
tion, count  for  little  unless  character,  divine  sym- 
pathy with  one's  needy  fellows,  and  an  enlarged 
conception  of  the  brotherhood  of  men  accompany 
them. 

And  how  can  I  do  other  than  radiate  a  large 
and  tremendous  discontent  at  the  suffering  and 
woe  of  the  unfortunates  of  life?  It  is  little  or 
nothing  to  me  what  causes  their  misfortune.  I 
have  learned  that  the  judgment  of  sociologists, 
theologists,  and  reformers  generally  is  of  little 
account  in  interpreting  the  causes  of  things.  As 
a  rule,  they  look  only  on  the  surface  and  see  noth- 
ing of  the  hidden  springs  of  action  and  therefore 
know  little  of  the  movement  of  hearts  of  men  and 
women  whose  condition  they  so  complacently  and 
conceitedly  imagine  they  can  change. 

Some  years  ago,  Jack  London  wrote  a  book  en- 
titled, The  People  of  the  Abyss.  It  was  severely 
censured  and  criticised  and  some  critics  went  so 
far  as  to  assert  that  it  was  full  of  untruths.  It 
told  of  the  dismal  lives  of  London's  poor,  who 
daily  find  themselves  with  nothing  but  one  meal, 
two  meals,  three  meals  between  themselves  and 
starvation  —  poor  wretches  to  whom  the  "  wolf  at 
the  door "  is  an  ever  present  reality,  and  who 
tremble  every  time  their  employers  look  towards 
them  with  a  frown  or  speak  with  a  voice  that 
threatens  dismissal.  What  a  frightful,  pitiable, 
204 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

pathetic  position  for  men  and  women  —  my  broth- 
ers and  sisters  —  to  be  in.  I  certainly  do  not 
wish  to  radiate  contentment  at  the  fact  of  their 
unfortunate  condition.  I  want  somehow  to  take 
some  of  their  burdens  upon  my  life.  I  want  to 
realize  something  of  the  spirit  that  led  Walt  Whit- 
man to  exclaim,  "  I  will  take  nothing  for  myself 
that  cannot  be  given  upon  equal  terms  to  all  men." 
When  I  read  the  stories  of  child  labor  and  learn 
of  the  many  cruelties  practiced  upon  helpless  little 
ones,  in  the  name  of  business ;  when  I  see  those 
boys  and  girls  of  tender  age  in  the  cotton  mills  of 
the  South,  owned  by  wealthy  men  of  the  North, 
plodding  back  and  forth,  hour  by  hour,  behind  the 
whirling  spindles ;  when  I  see  them,  as  I  have  often 
done,  so  utterly  weary  that  when  the  noon  hour 
came,  they  would  stretch  out  on  the  bare  floor  and 
try  to  gain  a  little  snatch  of  forgetfulness  of  their 
weariness  in  sleep,  rather  than  eat  their  inadequate 
lunch,  I  have  certainly  felt,  as  I  now  feel,  that  I 
wish  to  radiate  a  tremendous  amount  of  discontent 
that  such  inhuman  facts  can  exist.  When  I  see 
the  private  palace  car  owned  by  the  many-times 
millionaire,  and  catch  glimpses  of  the  extravagant 
and  wasteful  luxury  in  which  he  and  his  family 
live,  and  realize  that  this  prodigal  wastefulness  is 
made  possible  by  the  life-destroying  labor  of  poor, 
anaemic  children  in  the  glass-blowing  factories  of 
New  Jersey,  I  wish  I  had  the  power  to  send  a  great 
205 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

wail  of  discontent  through  the  country  that  would 
thrill  the  hearts,  awaken  the  senses,  and  arouse 
the  consciences  of  every  man  and  woman  in  the 
nation. 

When  I  realize  the  inadequacies  of  our  legal  sys- 
tem to  do  justice  alike  to  all  men  and  women,  the 
poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  the  innocent  and  confiding 
as  well  as  the  crafty  and  cunning,  I  feel  nothing 
but  discontent  and  long  for  the  time  to  come  when 
justice  and  mercy  shall  be  of  higher  value  in  the 
courts  of  our  land  than  precedent  and  legal  pro- 
cedure. 

It  often  takes  moral  courage  to  radiate  real  liv- 
ing discontent  with  these  injustices  and  crimes 
against  our  needy  and  defenseless  fellows.  I  long 
to  possess  this  moral  courage  in  fullest  measure, 
and  to  radiate  it  on  every  hand.  In  view  of  the 
need  for  strong  protest  against  the  smug,  con- 
tented betrayers  of  the  poor  and  needy,  I  would 
radiate  a  spirit  that  has  not  inaptly  been  termed 
that  of  contemporaneous  protest  and  rebellion. 
By  this  I  mean  that  present  spirit  of  protest  and 
rebellion  against  wrongs  that  exist  now,  so  that 
my  protest  will  be  contemporaneous  with  the  evil. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  line  up  with  the  winning 
side  and  shout  Hurrah!  with  the  victors  in  any 
conflict.  Even  the  English  of  to-day  agree  that 
the  American  Revolution  was  a  good  thing  and 
that  the  acts  of  George  III  were  indefensible 
206 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

tyranny.  But  it  required  considerable  courage 
to  join  one's  forces  with  those  of  Washington 
when  money  was  scarce  and  men  few,  when  the 
day  seemed  dark  and  gloomy,  and  the  prospects 
of  success  were  doubtful. 

It  is  easy  enough  to-day  to  Hurrah!  for  the 
principles  of  Lincoln,  but  many  a  great  statesman 
like  Henry  Clay  felt  it  was  better  to  compromise 
than  face  the  fierce  antagonism  of  such  men  as 
Calhounj  Jefferson  Davis,  and  others  who  believed 
in  the  opposing  ideas. 

What  I  desire  with  all  my  heart  is  to  radiate  not 
only  my  readiness  and  willingness  to  line  up  with 
the  unpopular  cause,  but  the  fact  that  I  am  al- 
ready lined  up*.  That,  without  being  asked,  peo- 
ple will  know  what  my  position  is  sure  to  be ;  that 
I  naturally  belong  on  the  side  of  the  "  under  dog," 
and  that  in  any  conflict  against  entrenched  power 
and  wrong,  where  the  weak  and  oppressed  are 
fighting  for  rights  which  are  inherently  theirs, 
that  as  soon  as  I  hear  the  battle-cry  my  "  HERE  !  " 
will  ring  out  immediate,  bold  and  clear. 

Nor  do  I  always  want  to  wait  to  be  called  upon. 
I  may  not  have  either  the  wisdom  and  discretion 
or  the  ability  to  be  a  leader  and  I  have  no  desire 
to  thrust  myself  forward  as  such.  At  the  same 
time,  I  do  not  want  to  be  cowardly  and  hang  back 
when  I  see  that  which  I  feel  is  inherently  wrong. 
Even  though  I  stand  alone,  I  want  to  stand  in  pro- 
207 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

test  and  contemporaneous  rebellion  against  the 
wrong  that  I  see. 

Nay,  further,  I  want  to  radiate  as  my  habitual 
attitude  of  mind  that  I  am  ever  on  the  alert  to 
seek  out  opportunities  for  rebellion  against  any 
and  all  systems  of  wrong,  no  matter  how  powerful, 
that  I  may  gladly  take  upon  my  shoulders  some 
part  of  the  burden  of  helping  forward  the  real 
progress  of  the  entire  human  race. 

James  Russell  Lowell  expressed  the  passionate 
desire  of  my  heart  in  his  Present  Crisis.  In  that 
majestic  poem  he  shows  the  need  for  this  contem- 
poraneous rebellion: 

Backward  look  across  the  ages,  and  the  beacon-movements 
see, 

That,  like  peaks  of  some  sunk  continent,  jut  through  Ob- 
livion's Sea; 

Not  an  ear  in  court  or  market  for  the  low  foreboding  cry 

Of  those  Crises,  God's  stern  winnowers,  from  whose  feet 
Earth's  chaff  must  fly; 

Never  shows  the  choice  momentous  till  the  judgment  hath 
passed  by. 

Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger;  history's  pages  but  record 

One  death-grapple  in  the  darkness  'twixt  old  systems  and 
the  Word; 

Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold,  wrong  forever  on  the  throne, — 

Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future,  and  behind  the  dim  un- 
known 

Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  His 
own. 

The  whole  poem  is  full  of  this  passionate  great- 
hearted, manly,  God-like  sympathy,  now  and  here, 
208 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

with  the  needy,  the  oppressed,  the  helpless  of  to- 
day. The  crises  are  here  now,  those  stern  win- 
nowers that  test  and  try  men's  souls,  that  discover 
whether  they  are  wheat  or  chaff,  ashes  or  gold. 
Oh,  for  men  who  have  made  already  the  "  choice 
momentous  " —  while  the  battle  is  raging,  when 
there  is  danger,  risk,  peril,  possible  death  in  the 
conflict.  Is  he  a  true  man  who  waits,  pauses,  hesi- 
tates, wavers  in  such  conflicts,  "  till  the  judgment 
hath  passed  by  "  ? 

I  would  radia.te,  again  let  me  say  it,  my  readi- 
ness to  march  at  the*  s'ound  of  the  drum,  to  advance 
with  the  front  ranks,  to  fight  at  the  first  word. 

Hi&tory  affords  us  many  noble  examples  and 
"  beacon  lights  "  of  those  who  have  lived  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles  herein  laid  down. 

Stephen  Langton  and  the  barons  of  England 
protested  against  the  tyrannical  power  of  King 
John.  They  did  so  at  the  peril  of  their  heads. 
Yet  they  were  possessed  of  this  spirit  of  con- 
temporaneous rebellion,  and  they  fought  against 
John  and  won  from  him  that  great  charter  of  the 
liberties  of  men,  that  has  been  the  basis  of  all 
proclamations  of  freedom  ever  since. 

Cromwell,  Hampden,  Pym,  Milton,  and  the 
other  great  commoners  and  democrats  of  Eng- 
land were  in  a  state  of  contemporaneous  protest 
and  rebellion  against  the  undue  pretensions  of 
King  Charles  I.  Their  protests  might  have  cost 
209 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

them  their  lives  —  yet  they  protested.  And  they 
won  a  victory  that  has  made  republics  possible 
throughout  all  time. 

So  with  the  leaders  of  the  French  Revolution. 
There  were  many  awful  and  bloody  events  con- 
nected with  that  great  act  of  contemporaneous 
protest,  but  that  the  ultimate  outcome  upon  man- 
kind has  been  good  most  true-hearted  thinkers 
agree.  Yet  the  protests  were  made  by  the  earlier 
agitators  under  great  danger. 

When  Patrick  Henry,  Franklin,  Jefferson, 
Adams,  Washington,  and  the  other  American  revo- 
lutionists protested  against  King  George's  tyr- 
anny, and  when  the  noble  band  met  at  Philadel- 
phia and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
they  knew  they  did  it  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  — 
yet  they  protested  and  won  for  mankind  the  vic- 
tory that  Joaquin  Miller  calls  "  Time's  burst  of 
Dawn." 

Had  Langton,  Cromwell,  the  French  Revolu- 
tionists, Washington,  and  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  failed,  they  would  all 
have  forfeited  their  lives  for  their  temerity.  It 
was  an  act  of  great  moral  courage  to  rebel. 

When  Galileo  rebelled  against  the  dictum  of  the 
ecclesiastic  authorities  in  regard  to  the  movement 
of  the  earth,  it  meant  his  imprisonment,  yet  he 
rebelled  and  thus  ushered  in  a  new  day  of  advance- 
ment in  astronomical  knowledge.  Darwin  did  the 
210 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

same.  Both  men  required  daring  and  courage, 
yet  they  did  not  hesitate  or  falter. 

There  are  evils  to-day  that  should  be  fought; 
fashions,  customs,  entrenched  wrongs  in  existence 
now  against  which  manly  men  are  called  to  be  in 
contemporaneous  rebellion.  Those  of  us  who  live 
to-day  are  reaping  great  and  blessed  privileges, 
freedom,  liberties,  won  for  us  as  the  result  of  the 
protests,  rebellions,  warfares  of  the  moral  heroes 
of  the  past;  so  should  we  further  the  progress  of 
the  world  by  protesting  and  fighting  the  existing 
wrongs,  in  order  that  future  generations  may  be 
freer  than  we  are,  and  may  push  on  still  further 
the  glorious  chariot  of  human  progress. 

Henry  George  was  a  recent  heroic  example  of 
contemporaneous  protest  against  current  evils. 
Garibaldi,  Mazzini,  Victor  Hugo,  Kossuth,  were 
all  noble  and  inspiring  examples  of  the  like  spirit. 
Ruskin's  life  was  a  perpetual  protest  against  the 
sacrificing  of  beauty,  peace,  harmony,  and  brother- 
hood for  the  rush  and  show  of  material  prosperity. 
William  Morris's  life,  work,  voice,  and  pen  were 
ever  in  active,  open,  contemporaneous  hostility  and 
opposition  to  the  damnable  spirit  of  modern  com- 
petition, and  demoralizing  commercialism  which 
destroyed  artistic  labor,  banished  fellowship,  and 
substituted  therefor  the  rule  of  the  jungle  where 
the  strong  devour  the  weak.  Thank  God!  the 
ranks  of  the  morally  courageous  have  always 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

found  glad  and  willing  recruits;  men  willing  to 
spend  and  be  spent  for  the  benefit  of  humanity; 
willing  to  be  rebels  and  accounted  and  treated  as 
such  that  they  might  help  gain  larger  victories  of 
freedom  for  their  fellow-men. 

We  sometimes  think  that  there  was  more  moral 
heroism  in  the  days  gone  by  than  there  is  to-day. 
I  do  not  believe  it !  In  this  matter  of  moral  hero- 
ism and  contemporaneous  rebellion  against  en- 
trenched wrong,  we  have  many  fine  and  noble  living 
examples  on  every  hand.  I  could  mention  a  hun- 
dred of  them  in  as  many  minutes.  A  few  must 
suffice. 

When  Edwin  Markham  wrote  The  Man  with 
the  Hoe,  he  showed  his  spirit  of  contemporaneous 
protest  and  rebellion.  Here  was  no  reflection 
upon  labor  or  its  dignity,  as  some  thoughtless 
critics  have  affirmed,  but  it  was  a  tremendous  and 
powerful  onslaught  upon  the  "  Kings  and  Rulers 
of  All  Lands  "  who  permit  employers  to  chain  the 
laborer  to  the  "  wheel  of  labor."  Markham's 
poem  is  a  direct  challenge  and  throwing  down  of 
the  gauntlet  to  those  who  contend  that  they  have 
a  right  to  purchase  labor  in  the  open  market  at 
any  price,  however  demoralizing  to  mankind.  It 
is  a  contention  that  manhood  is  more  than  money ; 
that  the  laborer  is  more  than  the  labor ;  and  that 
the  employers  who  value  the  labor  done  more  than 
the  men  who  do  the  labor  are  unworthy  the  honor 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

and  respect  of  decent  men;  are  unworthy  to  be 
called  real  men  because  of  their  tyrannical  abuse  of 
their  helpless  brothers. 

William  Booth,  president  of  the  Salvation 
Army,  Jack  London,  the  socialist  novelist,  Jacob 
Riis,  the  New  York  newspaper  idealist,  Maud  Bal- 
lington  Booth,  the  leader  of  the  Volunteers  of 
America,  Charles  Montgomery,  of  San  Francisco, 
the  prisoner's  friend,  and  Dana  Bartlett,  of  Los 
Angeles,  the  brother  of  poor  "  Dagoes,"  Portu- 
guese and  Mexicans,  are  all  more  or  less  widely 
diverse  examples  of  contemporaneous  rebellion  and 
protest  against  existing  social  conditions.  Each 
works  in  his  own  way  to  ameliorate  these  condi- 
tions, but  the  work  of  each  is  a  protest  against 
those  laws  of  supply  and  demand,  of  competition, 
of  worship  of  material  things,  that  allow  it  to  be 
possible  that  some  men  can  gain  more  wealth  than 
they  can  ever  utilize,  even  if  they  lived  to  be  ten 
thousand  years  old,  and  never  earn  another  cent, 
whilst  others  can  earn  barely  enough  to  keep  body 
and  soul  together  and  who  live  every  day  in  dread 
of  the  future  because  they  are  capable  of  earning 
no  more  than  enough  to  keep  them  one,  two,  or 
three  meals  away  from  starvation. 

In  a  copy  of  his  book,  The  People  of  the  Abyss, 
which  Jack  London  sent  to  me,  which  truthfully 
portrays  the  life  of  the  submerged  tenth  of  Lon- 
don, he  wrote  something  like  this  on  the  title  page : 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

"  Dear  James  —  With  the  facts  of  these  pages 
before  me,  I  may  agree  with  you  in  your  favorite 
quotation  from  Browning,  that  '  God's  in  his 
heaven,'  but  I  cannot  agree  with  you  that  '  All's 
right  with  the  world.'  " 

It  is  the  fashion  with  certain  people  to  decry 
Jack  London's  socialism,  but  I  happen  to  know 
that  he  has  personally  sacrificed  thousands  of 
dollars  to  his  principles  in  this  matter,  has  lost 
the  friendship  of  many  wealthy  people  who  would 
have  showered  their  gifts  upon  him  had  he  been 
complacent  towards  what  he  calls  "  predatory 
wealth,"  hence  I  hail  his  acts  of  contemporaneous 
rebellion  and  his  taking  upon  himself  of  the  battle 
for  these,  his  weaker  brothers  and  sisters,  as  heroic, 
and  fully  worthy  of  the  highest  esteem  of  all  good 
men,  whatever  they  may  think  of  the  methods  by 
which  he  would  bring  about  the  desired  changes. 

All  through  his  life  there  has  been  a  strong  cur- 
rent of  contemporaneous  rebellion  and  belligerent 
sincerity  in  the  work  of  the  poet  of  the  Sierras, 
Joaquin  Miller.  He  was  brought  up  as  a  Quaker 
and  taught  to  believe  in  non-resistance,  hence  he 
preached  peace  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War 
until  his  printing  office  was  wrecked  and  his  life 
threatened.  When  the  world  at  large  was  con- 
demning the  Indian,  he  went  and  stood  .by  his  side, 
and  when  he  believed  him  to  be  in  the  right,  fought 
battles  on  his  behalf.  All  through  his  life  he  has 


CONTENT    AND    DISCONTENT 

boldly  stood  for  man's  larger  freedom,  and  against 
entrenched  tyranny.  When  England  made  war 
upon  the  Boers,  he  denounced  the  warlike  and 
jingo  politicians  with  a  power  and  strength  seldom 
surpassed  in  poetry,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
English  had  always  been  his  best  friends  and  the 
largest  purchasers  of  his  poems. 

While  he  lived  in  California,  not  far  from  San 
Francisco,  and  California  was  a  hotbed  of  the  sen- 
timent that  demands  the  exclusion  of  the  Chinese 
and  Japanese,  he  ever  fearlessly  and  in  unmistak- 
able terms  denounced  this  action  as  opposed  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  fatherhood  of  God 
and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  demanded  of  his 
fellow  citizens  that  they  adhere  strictly  to  these 
never-failing  and  abiding  truths. 

These  men  are  but  few  of  the  many  I  might  men- 
tion, but  they  will  serve  as  types.  They  have 
been  and  are  willing  to  suffer  for  the  general  good 
of  mankind.  Therefore,  in  the  presence  of  their 
moral  heroism  and  courage,  let  us  cry  with  George 
Linnaeus  Banks : 

I  live  to  learn  their  story 

Who've  suffered  for  my  sake, 
To  emulate  their  glory, 

And  to  follow  in  their  wake; 
Bards,  patriots,  martyrs,  sages, 
The  noble  of  all  ages, 
Whose  deeds  crowd  history's  pages 

And  Time's  great  volume  make. 

215 


LIVING    THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

I  live  ... 

For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 
For  the  future  in  the  distance, 
And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 


216 


CHAPTER  XVII 

RADIANCIES    OF    SINCERITY 

W  E  need  more  of  the  virtue  of  belligerent  sin- 
cerity. What  the  world  needs  to-day  is  bold, 
outspokenness  for  principle.  It  is  not  enough 
that  we  hold  principles  in  the  quietude  of  our  own 
homes  and  discuss  them  in  the  sanctity  of  our  bed- 
rooms. We  need  a  belligerent  sincerity  of  funda- 
mental principles  in  the  mart,  the  store,  in  the 
counting  house,  in  the  bank,  on  the  board  of  trade, 
and  the  stock  exchange.  The  tendency  of  men 
in  office  and  men  in  employment  is  to  be  subservient 
for  the  purpose  of  their  own  advancement.  It  is 
so  easy  to  yield  a  principle  to  gain  an  increase  in 
salary  or  to  win  the  support  of  a  swaying  party 
vote.  In  this  age  of  great  aggregations  of  capi- 
tal, when  corporations  are  conducting  gigantic 
enterprises,  it  is  so  easy  for  subordinates  to  place 
all  the  responsibility  of  conscience  upon  their 
chiefs  and  to  refuse  to  accept  responsibility  for 
acts  of  which  they  themselves  are  the  instruments 
on  the  plea,  "  I  am  but  a  servant  and  carry  out 
the  will  of  my  superior."  Relentless  crushing  out 
of  competitors,  secretly  securing  rebates,  unjust 
217 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

discrimination  in  discounts,  the  utilization  of  offi- 
cial information  for  personal  advantage  or  that 
of  one's  friends,  the  writing  of  editorials  contrary 
to  one's  principles  because  the  policies  of  the  paper 
require  it,  in  other  words,  the  whole  realm  of 
truckling  subserviency,  yielding,  cowardice,  obse- 
quiousness, surrender,  fawning,  servility,  syco- 
phancy, toad-eating,  pliancy,  should  be  weeded  out 
of  the  garden  of  the  soul  and  belligerent  sincerity 
planted  in  their  stead. 

At  the  same  time,  I  want  to  radiate  my  abhor- 
rence of  all  the  truckling  subserviency  that  seeks 
to  gain  its  ends  and  make  secure  its  own  position 
by  cringing,  fawning,  and  flattery  upon  those 
whose  favor  it  seeks. 

Most  men  have  their  pet  vanities.  Few  are  free 
from  weaknesses  and  frailties.  It  is  so  easy  to 
flatter,  so  natural  to  "  kow-tow,"  so  profitable  to 
pander.  The  reason  that  the  world  so  laughs  at 
the  delineations  of  the  open,  bold,  corrupt,  para- 
sitical, pandering  Falstaff  is  that  they  find  the 
echo  in  their  own  meannesses  of  soul.  Like  Henry 
VII,  many  men  have  their  Falstaffs,  who  seek  to 
eat,  drink,  and  be  merry  at  their  expense. 

By  this  I  do  not  mean  to  decry  and  impeach  the 
integrity  and  sincerity  of  those  who  express  sym- 
pathy and  appreciation  of  those  who  are  engaged 
in  large  enterprises.  It  is  natural  for  those  con- 


RADIANCIES     OF     SINCERITY 

ducting  such  to  seek  and  require  such  sympathy 
in  their  lieutenants,  but  to  such  lieutenants  I  would 
cry  mightily  and  constantly,  "  Sympathize  and 
commend  by  all  means,  but  when  you  do,  be  sure 
your  purest  virtue  is  on  guard  over  your  heart 
and  your  lips.  Say  nothing  that  you  do  not  abso- 
lutely mean."  Be  "  belligerently  sincere  "  with 
your  own  soul  and  speak  no  words  to  your  em- 
ployer because  he  enjoys  them  that  you  would  not 
as  freely  and  gladly  say  if  he  had  dismissed  you 
from  his  employ. 

I  would  also  radiate  my  appreciation  of  those 
who,  occupying  what  we  call  a  subordinate  posi- 
tion, speak  out  with  frank,  plain,  direct  simplicity 
the  thoughts  of  their  hearts.  I  have  sometimes 
found  in  business,  employers  who  sought  by  undue 
flattery,  scheming,  plotting,  chicanery,  and  fraud, 
all  stealthily  exercised,  to  "  work  "  their  employees 
and  secure  from  them  a  meed  of  service  for  which 
they  were  not  willing  to  pay  a  full  and  just  price. 
In  dealing  with  such  employers  a  frank,  open,  sim- 
ple-hearted, and  honest  employee  is  often  at  a  great 
disadvantage.  Being  used  to  tortuous,  under- 
ground, secret,  plotting  methods  himself,  such  an 
employer  regards  with  suspicion  the  simple  actions 
of  his  employee.  He  sees  in  his  frank  openness 
nothing  but  deeply  laid  plots.  He  finds  in  his 
candid  sincerity  craftily  planned  schemes.  The 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

more  open  the  one,  the  more  certain  the  other  is 
that  there  is  something  hidden,  deep,  far-reaching, 
cunning,  and  deceitful  underneath  his  acts. 

To  these  open-hearted  souls  I  would  radiate  a 
tonic  that  is  stimulating  —  quickening  to  their 
moral  fiber  and  stiffening  and  strengthening  to 
their  moral  spines.  To  such  I  would  come  as  a 
cold  shower  bath  to  stimulate  the  nerves  and  mus- 
cles to  greater  tension.  Stand  by  your  truthful- 
ness, stand  by  your  frankness,  stand  by  your  open- 
ness until  you  teach  these  burrowing,  crafty, 
stealthy,  sly,  evasive,  sneaking  creatures  that  open- 
ness is  better  than  secrecy,  light  better  than  dark- 
ness, truth  better  than  falsity,  candor  better  than 
craft,  and  an  open  enemy  better  than  a  secret, 
fawning,  sycophantic  foe. 


220 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

RADIANCIES    OF    SERVICE 

I  WANT  to  radiate  by  thought,  word,  and  act 
the  joy  and  blessedness  of  service.  What  a  privi- 
lege it  is  to  be  able  to  do  something  for  your  fel- 
lows! How  great  and  constant  is  the  joy  of  min- 
istering! How  ready  we  are  to  run  with  willing 
feet  to  do  some  little  or  big  thing  for  those  we 
love!  The  lover  will  climb  dangerous  Alpine 
heights  to  get  the  rare  and  richly  treasured  edel- 
weiss for  his  beloved.  Leander  gladly  and  joy- 
ously braved  the  dangers  of  the  Hellespont  that 
he  might  cheer  and  encourage  his  Hero.  The 
lover  has  always  cried,  in  all  ages,  to  his  loved  one, 
asking  her  to  send  him  on  some  difficult  errand. 
He  would  gladly  go  anywhere,  to  any  service,  how- 
ever arduous  and  dangerous,  to  prove  his  love. 
The  records  of  chivalry  are  full  of  daring  deeds 
accomplished  by  men  in  order  to  please  the  women 
they  loved. 

Against  this  kind  of  service  I  have  nothing  to 
say.  At  the  same  time,  this  is  not  the  kind  of 
service  of  which  I  now  write.  I  would  radiate  the 
thought  that  in  our  service  we  should  treat  all  men 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

and  women  with  the  same  willing  gladness  of  minis- 
try that  the  lover  has  for  the  mistress  of  his  heart. 
I  desire  to  be  ready  and  willing  to  fly  on  the  wings 
of  helpfulness  to  do  service  for  the  meanest  and 
most  despicable  of  human  kind,  if  thereby  he,  or 
she,  may  be  benefited.  I  would  radiate  the  be- 
lief that  our  willing  service  belongs  to  humanity, 
all  men,  all  women,  not  to  a  select  few,  not  to  the 
small  and  chosen  circle  whom  we  call  our  loved 
ones  and  friends.  I  would  radiate  the  spirit  of 
service  that  possessed  and  animated  the  strong, 
pure  soul  of  William  Morris,  that  led  him  to  place 
his  precious  time  and  service  at  the  disposal  of  a 
committee  of  men,  not  one  of  whom  knew  enough 
to  appreciate  his  exquisite  and  beautiful  devotion, 
and  under  whose  control  he  was  ready  to  go  and 
speak  words  of  cheer,  fellowship,  and  brotherhood 
in  the  lowest  and  most  degraded  parts  of  London. 
He  was  imbued  with  this  passion  for  service  and 
it  was  service  to  the  whole  of  mankind  —  not  the 
chosen  few. 

I  once  picked  up  some  socialistic  newspaper  with 
which  I  was  not  familiar,  but  in  it  was  an  account 
of  the  life  of  a  man  who  had  recently  died.  Ac- 
cording to  the  story  of  his  biographer,  this  man 
was  carried  away  with  this  passion  for  human 
service  to  the  lowest  and  most  degraded,  and  he 
had  spent  his  active  and  busy  life  in  ministering 
to  those  who,  as  a  rule,  are  ignored  by  their  more 


RADIANCIES     OF     SERVICE 

fortunate  brothers  and  sisters.  It  was  a  story 
that  thrilled  me  to  a  higher  and  nobler  endeavor. 

Many  a  time  I  have  bowed  my  soul  in  reverence 
and  humility  before  a  group  of  Salvation  Army 
lasses  who,  with  sweet,  gentle  ministrations,  have 
cheered  the  dwellers  in  the  wretched  hovels  of  Lon- 
don, New  York,  and  other  cities.  I  know  one 
maiden,  delicately  constituted,  and  reared  in  a 
home  full  of  wealth  and  luxury,  who  felt  this  pas- 
sionate call  of  service  so  strongly,  that,  in  spite 
of  the  protests  of  her  relatives  and  friends,  she 
went  to  London,  united  with  the  Salvation  Army, 
and  with  her  own  beautiful  and  gentle  hands,  down 
upon  her  knees,  has  scrubbed  into  cleanliness  the 
floor  of  a  drunken  wife  and  drunken  husband  whose 
children  had  never  known  a  clean  floor  in  the  whole 
of  their  dirty  and  wretched  lives.  I  have  helped 
her  clean  out  the  accumulated  filth,  of  what  seemed 
to  be  months,  in  similar  wretched  places,  and  all 
this,  as  well  as  the  more  refined  ministrations  of 
the  mind  and  soul,  were  offered  with  a  sweet  and 
gentle  insistence  that  no  one  could  take  offense  at, 
and  without  an  air  of  conscious  self-approbation 
that  one  so  often  finds  in  those  who  are  seeking  to 
minister  to  others. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  this  larger  and  devoted 
sense  that  I  would  radiate  my  desire  to  serve  and 
minister  to  my  fellows.  It  is  in  the  small  and 
every-day  things  of  life,  no  matter  what  my  work 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

or  surroundings  may  be,  that  I  would  radiate  this 
ministering  spirit.  What  a  pleasure  it  is  to  do 
things  for  others.  What  a  joy  to  realize  that 
your  friends  love  you  enough  to  want  you  to  do 
something  for  them. 

I  find,  however,  that  in  the  mind  of  many  is  the 
idea  that  certain  service  is  menial,  and  that  they 
would  not  serve  if  they  were  not  obliged  to  do  so 
for  the  money  it  brings.  I  have  a  deep  and  pro- 
found pity  in  my  soul  for  those  who  look  upon  life 
with  this  perverted  vision.  If  I  were  a  waiter  in 
a  cheap  restaurant,  it  seems  to  me  it  would  be  my 
joy  to  serve  the  cheap  meals  as  quickly  and  as 
cheerfulty  as  I  possibly  could.  Surely  ministering 
to  the  bodily  wants  of  men  and  women  is  a  service 
which  ought  to  be  blessed.  If  I  were  a  house- 
maid I  feel  that  I  should  find  joy  in  making  and 
keeping  everything  as  orderly  and  tidy  as  possible. 

I  have  several  times  stayed  in  a  semi-public  in- 
stitution where  a  great  number  of  nurses  were 
employed,  and  I  have  watched  both  men  and  women 
engaged  in  this  beautiful  service.  In  this  particu- 
lar place  they  all  seemed  full  of  this  passion  for 
service.  There  was  no  impatience  at  the  often 
exacting  calls  and  demands  of  the  querulous  and 
unreasonable  invalids.  Their  very  lives  were  a 
dedication. 

Sometimes  we  meet  with  those  who  will  refuse  to 
do  certain  things  because  they  regard  them  as 


RADIANCIES     OF     SERVICE 

more  menial  than  those  they  were  engaged  to  per- 
form, as,  for  instance,  the  case  of  a  bell  boy  who 
refused  to  take  away  a  coal-scuttle  when  asked  to 
do  so  because  that  was  not  in  the  list  of  his  duties, 
and  a  man  "  lower  down  in  the  scale  "  was  sup- 
posed to  attend  to  work  of  that  kind.  Now,  while 
I  recognize  that  there  must  be  for  convenience's 
sake,  a  division  of  labor,  I  want  to  radiate  the  feel- 
ing and  belief  that  there  is  no  higher,  no  lower, 
in  this  call  of  personal  service.  It  is  just  as  hon- 
orable to  be  a  street  sweeper  or  a  scavenger  of  the 
meanest  kind  (so-called),  to  be  a  farm  laborer,  to 
be  a  kitchen  drudge,  to  be  a  factory  hand,  as  it  is 
to  be  a  minister  of  a  church  that  pays  a  salary  of 
$20,000  a  year.  The  real  blessedness  of  life  of 
all  grades  of  service  from  the  scavenger  to  the  ex- 
pensive pastor  is  determined  by  the  spirit  behind 
the  service,  and  the  kitchen  drudge  who  does  her 
work  with  the  consciousness  in  her  own  soul  that 
she  is  gladly,  merrily,  cheerfully  undertaking  her 
work  and  doing  it  well  for  the  comfort,  benefit, 
cheer,  and  blessing  of  her  employers  is  of  more 
benefit  to  mankind  than  the  services  of  the  expen- 
sive pastor  of  the  exclusive  church  who  regards 
his  ministry  as  a  proof  of  his  own  intellectual 
worth,  and  as  a  means  of  asserting  his  high  social 
position. 

Who    can   ever    forget    the   wonderful   picture 
of  that  sturdy   Scotch  Doctor  depicted  by  Ian 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Maclaren  in  his  Bonnie  Brier  Bush,  whose  passion 
of  devotion  and  ministry  was  so  pure  that  it 
reached  every  soul  in  the  whole  region. 

Frances  Hodgson  Burnett,  in  her  Dawn  of  a 
To-morrow,  tells  of  a  degraded  street  waif  who 
yet  had  this  passion  of  ministry  in  her  soul,  and  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  wherever  it  is 
found,  it  is  divine,  and  therefore  blessed.  Hence 
I  would  radiate  it  at  all  times,  under  all  conditions, 
and  under  all  circumstances  to  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  men. 

Where  would  have  been  the  work  of  Judge  Lind- 
say of  Denver,  Golden  Rule  Jones  of  Toledo,  Mc- 
Claughery  of  Elmira  Penitentiary,  Chief  Kohler 
of  Cleveland,  Governor  Hunt  and  Warden  Sims  of 
Arizona,  if  they  had  worked  only  for  the  worthy? 
It  was  the  very  openness  of  the  unworthiness  of 
those  for  whom  they  strove,  that  made  the  appeal 
to  these  large-hearted  men. 

It  is  so  easy  to  criticise  men  of  this  stamp  be- 
cause they  have  dared  to  break  away  from  the  con- 
ventional rendering  of  service  only  to  the  worthy. 
It  is  so  easy  to  cry  that  they  are  doing  more  harm 
than  good.  But  those  who  know  the  work  and 
know  the  hearts  that  are  constantly  being  touched 
and  molded  into  betterment  by  it  are  better  able  to 
judge  of  its  higher  results. 

Shall  I  hesitate  to  render  service  because  I  my- 
226 


RADIANCIES     OF    SERVICE 

self  am  not  perfect?  Shall  I  refuse  to  give  the 
shivering  and  hungry  beggar  on  the  street  a 
twenty-five  cent  meal  ticket  because  I  myself  am 
not  free  from  debt?  Shall  I  refuse  to  guide  the 
lost  wayfarer  because  I  myself  do  not  know  all  the 
winding  pathways  of  life? 

By  no  means !  Let  me  do  the  best  I  may  while  I 
may,  and  seize  every  opportunity  that  arises.  It 
was  a  Christian  minister  that  dared  to  rebuke 
Father  Damien  by  claiming  that  he  was  not  im- 
maculate in  his  service  to  the  repulsive  and  loath- 
some lepers  of  Molokai.  And  it  was  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson  who  showed  that  Christian  minister  what 
true  Christianity  would  have  led  him  to  say  instead 
of  what  he  did  say.  Father  Damien's  ministry  was 
self-sacrificing,  noble,  and  divine,  even  though, — 
granting  for  the  moment  the  truth  of  the  minister's 
slander, —  his  service  was  touched  of  the  earth, 
earthy.  Yet  the  beneficence  and  blessedness  of  it 
was  so  supremely  above  the  smug,  self-satisfied, 
standing-aloofness  of  the  "  immaculate "  minis- 
terial critic  that  Stevenson's  colossal  rebuke  to  the 
latter  found  perfect  echo  in  the  heart  of  every 
decent  man  and  woman  throughout  the  world. 
Joaquin  Miller  expresses  the  same  thought  in  his 
beautiful  and  strong  poem  on  Father  Damien  when 
he  says : 

Why  do  ye  not  as  he  has  done? 
837 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

If  we  can  do  so  much  better  than  those  we  criti- 
cise, why,  in  the  name  of  heaven  and  suffering  hu- 
manity, do  we  not  go  ahead  and  do  it  ?  Let  us  do 
our  best  regardless  of  our  own  infirmities  and  weak- 
ness and  the  consequent  criticisms  of  others. 

So  I  want  to  radiate  to  the  needy  and  unworthy 
my  readiness,  nay,  my  anxiety  to  serve  them  when- 
ever and  wherever  I  possibly  can.  And  though  my 
service  be  not  unmixed  gold,  though  there  be  in  it 
some  of  the  dross  of  imperfection,  I  would  not  with- 
hold my  hand  on  that  account,  but  I  would  serve 
the  more  readily  and  gladly  in  the  hope  and  assur- 
ance that  by  suffering  with  the  needy  and  unworthy 
in  their  need  and  unworthiness  the  fire  of  their  pain 
and  sorrow  may  help  refine  away  the  dross  in  me 
and  leave  only  that  of  pure  gold. 

"  Give  to  the  needy !  worthy  or  unworthy!  " 
should  be  the  battle  cry  of  him  who  wishes  to  be  a 
blessing  to  his  fellows,  and  the  more  unworthy  the 
needy  are,  the  more  loving  and  wise  the  service 
should  be.  When  Walt  Whitman  was  shedding 
blessing,  benediction,  comfort,  and  joy  on  every 
hand  throughout  the  hospitals  of  Washington,  he 
had  little  or  no  money  to  give.  He  asked  no  ques- 
tions when  he  went  to  the  bedside  of  the  sick  and 
dying  soldier  boys  as  to  whether  they  were  worthy 
or  not.  They  were  needy  and  that  was  enough  for 
him.  He  stayed  and  soothed  their  weary  hours  by 
telling  them  stories,  reading  to  them,  writing  letters 
228 


RADIANCIES     OF     SERVICE 

home  for  them,  and  in  a  thousand  and  one  little  and 
big  ways  seeking  to  make  their  sick  beds  more 
tolerable  during  the  long  hours  of  enforced  con- 
finement. 

One  of  his  rules  for  the  making  of  a  true  poet 
was  that  he  should  "  give  alms  to  all  who  ask," 
and  that  he  should  "  stand  up  for  the  stupid  and 
crazy."  I  have  a  friend  in  Chicago  who  seeks 
absolutely  to  live  these  two  rules  in  his  daily  life. 
Even  though  he  may  often  give  to  the  unworthy, 
he  feels  he  can  better  afford  to  do  that  than  to  miss 
once  giving  to  a  really  needy  person  lest  he  might 
be  giving  to  some  one  who  was  neither  needy  nor 
worthy. 

A  poet,  whom  I  am  very  fond  of  quoting,  once 
wrote : 

In  men  whom  men  condemn  as  ill, 

I  find  so  much  of  goodness  still; 

In  men  whom  men  account  divine, 

I  find  so  much  of  sin  and  blot; 

I  hesitate  to  draw  the  line    between  the  two; 

Where  God  has  not. 

It  is  impossible  properly  and  wisely  to  differen- 
tiate, and  because  a  man  is  unworthy  is  all  the  more 
reason  that  his  fellows  should  seek  to  help  him  into 
a  state  of  worthiness. 

How  I  wish  I  could  imbue  all  with  the  spirit  that 
moves  Charles  Montgomery,  the  prisoner's  friend 
of  San  Francisco.  He  goes  to  the  state  peniten- 
229 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

tiaries  at  San  Quentin  and  Folsom,  and  arranges 
to  give  help  to  the  prisoners  as  soon  as  they  are 
released.  Nay,  he  provides  places  for  them  and 
then  goes  before  the  board  of  parole  and  secures 
their  release.  He  takes  a  true  brother's  interest 
in  the  men  and  seeks  to  win  them  to  a  nobler  life. 
Doubtless  he  is  often  deceived,  but  in  scores  of 
cases  he  starts  the  men  on  the  up-grade.  What  is 
one  failure  or  ten,  to  one  success  or  ten?  If  it 
were  my  son  that  was  saved  I  should  be  most  grate- 
ful even  though  he  saved  but  one.  It  would  make 
his  work  glorious  and  blessed  to  me.  Then  try  to 
feel  what  it  must  be  for  some  other  father  or 
mother  to  learn  that  his,  or  her,  son  is  saved  from 
the  life  of  hell,  to  the  life  of  heaven,  here  and  now, 
and  do  as  much  for  that  son  as  you  would  for  your 
own. 

I  doubt  not  that  some  of  the  boys  Judge  Lind- 
say seeks  to  save  in  Denver,  are  not  all  they  ought 
to  be,  and  that  sometimes  he  is  disappointed  in  the 
results.  But  does  this  make  him  lose  heart,  or 
cease  to  work  for  the  new  cases  that  come  ?  By  no 
means !  It  makes  him  more  determined  than  ever 
to  reach  their  hearts.  He  is  more  tender,  more 
long-suffering,  more  patient,  more  sympathetic, 
more  loving.  The  greater  the  need  the  greater  the 
endeavor. 

The  other  day  I  sat  down  to  the  dinner  table 
with  a  friend  who  outlined  to  me  a  project  in  which 
230 


RADIANCIES     OF     SERVICE 

himself  and  four  others  are  interested.  It  is  to 
buy  a  farm,  on  the  shores  of  a  small  but  beautiful 
lake,  a  few  miles  out  from  one  of  our  great  cities, 
and  there  establish  a  home  and  a  school  for  needy 
children.  These  five  devoted  young  people  are  now 
working  hard  and  each  one  is  saving  every  cent  he 
can  out  of  his  own  earnings  that,  without  calling 
upon  any  one  else,  they  may  be  able .  to  buy  the 
farm.  I  had  asked  my  friend  why  he  did  not  go 
to  hear  the  great  actress  Bernhardt.  The  reason 
was  that  he  preferred  to  put  the  three  dollars  that 
a  ticket  to  hear  Bernhardt  would  have  cost  into  his 
"  child  farm  fund."  Here  was  self-denial  with  joy, 
for  the  privilege  of  service.  And  whom  will  he 
serve?  There  will  be  no  question  asked  as  to  the 
worthiness  or  unworthiness  of  the  children  that  will 
be  received  into  this  home  when  established.* 

*  Since  these  pages  were  written  this  farm-school  has  be- 
come an  established  fact,  and  is  doing  excellent  and  beauti- 
ful work  for  needy  children. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

KADIANCIES    OF    HUMOR 

1  WANT  to  radiate  humor  and  my  apprecia- 
tion of  it.  But  it  must  be  natural,  genuine,  kind- 
hearted,  sweet,  and  pure.  The  humor  that  has  a 
sting  for  some  one  else,  that  is  unkind,  unjust, 
malicious,  cruel,  or  unclean  is  not  for  me.  And, 
furthermore,  I  do  not  want  that  any  one  should 
ever  feel  that  I  can  or  would  enjoy  such  humor. 
I  want  to  radiate  such  a  spirit,  give  forth  such  an 
"  aura  "  that  no  one  will  ever  come  to  me  with  un- 
kind or  unclean  humor,  or  expect  me  to  want  to 
hear  it. 

No,  true  humor  is  gentle,  kind,  humane,  and 
human.  I  think  little  of  any  man  or  woman  who 
cannot  enjoy  a  good  hearty  laugh.  I  believe  in 
laughter;  in  joking,  in  fun,  in  wit,  in  humor 
—  in  the  things  that  provoke  laughter.  Laugh 
heartily,  laugh  loud,  laugh  long,  and  you  will 
oftentimes  laugh  away  dyspepsia,  the  blues,  and 
worries.  Laugh  at  your  own  misfortunes,  your 
own  mishaps.  My  dear  friend,  Burdette,  used  to 
clap  me  on  the  back  and  exclaim  in  his  bright, 
cheery  voice :  "  Be  your  own  funny  man."  He 


RADIANCIES     OF     HUMOR 

once  illustrated  it  by  saying,  in  effect :  "  You've 
laughed  many  a  time  watching  a  man  chase  his  hat 
when  a  windstorm  ran  away  with  it,  but  how  do 
you  feel  when  it's  your  own  hat?  Take  a  look  at 
yourself.  See  the  spectacle  you  make  —  the  be- 
whiskered,  the  dignified,  the  long-legged  —  as  you 
rush  frantically  after  the  fleeing  tile.  Can't  you 
see  the  fun  in  bending  down,  making  a  dive  for  the 
hat,  just  at  the  moment  an  extra  gust  comes  and 
—  flip,  flop  —  the  hat  scoots  on  and  you  grasp  the 
empty  space.  Laugh  at  yourself,  my  boy,  and 
you'll  get  hold  of  the  world  by  the  tail  and  conquer 
it!" 

How  true  it  is ! 

The  greatest  humoristic  after-dinner  speaker 
in  America  to-day  is  Simeon  Ford.  How  often 
have  I  laughed  at  and  with  him.  Study  his  hu- 
mor. Half  of  it  is  making  fun  at  himself,  his 
"  bizarre,  gothic  style  of  architecture,"  and  that 
kind  of  thing.  He  pokes  fun,  slyly,  at  himself, 
and  watches  the  effect  on  other  people.  Instead 
of  "  guying "  other,  and  sensitive,  people  — 
(notice,  I  say  sensitive,  not  sensible), —  he  guys 
himself,  and  the  more  absurd  the  picture  he  can 
draw  of  himself  the  more  he  seems  to  enjoy  it.  He 
is  original,  quaint,  individualistic,  truly  funny,  not 
a  mere  retailer  of  old  chestnuts,  warmed  over  at 
the  brazier  of  his  wit,  but  a  creator,  a  real  maker 
of  humor,  and  the  result  is  people  sit  and  laugh  and 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

laugh,  and  then  laugh  some  more,  and  when  it  is 
all  over  go  away  wondering  what  it  was  all  about. 
But  there  is  no  sarcasm,  no  sting,  no  malice  in  the 
fun,  no  one  is  hurt,  everything  is  as  harmless  as 
the  frolics  of  a  young  lamb. 

So  it  was  with  dear  little  Marshall  Wilder. 
Dear  Marsh !  how  I  loved  him !  Handicapped  with 
a  distorted  body,  his  mind  was  as  quick  as  light- 
ning. How  well  I  remember  running  in  upon  him 
in  his  bedroom  in  a  hotel  in  Buffalo  one  morning 
and  asking  him  to  come  down  to  a  breakfast  table 
of  friends  who  had  assembled  to  give  me  a 
"  Good-by."  Though  he  was  not  well,  he  hastily 
threw  on  his  clothes,  came  down,  and  for  an  hour 
brightened  our  circle,  with  some  of  the  most  flash- 
ing, bright,  and  spontaneous  wit  I  ever  heard. 
Everybody  was  charmed,  delighted,  thrilled,  for  he 
sprang  from  gay  to  grave,  laughter  to  tears, 
jollity  to  pathos  so  startlingly  quick  as  to  keep  us 
with  one  hand  to  our  eyes,  wiping  away  the  tears, 
when  we  had  originally  raised  them  to  hide  our 
wide-open,  laughing  mouths.  He  loved  to  make 
others  happy;  he  was  ever  ready  to  plunge  deep 
into  the  pool  of  simple-hearted  pure  fun.  Who 
will  ever  forget  that  day  when  he,  Elbert  Hubbard, 
Von  Liebich,  with  half  a  dozen  or  more  of  the 
brightest  minds  of  the  Continent,  who  were  visit- 
ing at  Roycroft  together,  planned  to  go  to  the 
Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo.  I  was 


RADIANCIES     OF     HUMOR 

privileged  to  be  of  the  number.  We  planned  to 
go  as  a  lot  of  country  joskins,  real  "  Hicks,"  with 
hayseed  in  our  hair,  and  carrying  our  carpet-bags 
with  us.  As  I  was  the  only  bewhiskered  man  of 
the  "  bunch,"  I  was  made  the  victim.  I  was  to 
dress  in  country  style,  go  down  the  "  Midway  " 
—  or  whatever  the  street  of  shows  was  called  — 
and  attract  the  attention  of  the  "  barkers  "  and 
draw  their  fire.  Then  the  others  were  to  saunter 
up  and  we,  in  turn,  would  open  up  our  fire  upon 
the  barker.  Can  you  imagine  the  results?  We 
carried  out  the  plan  exactly  as  contemplated.  I 
ate  liquorice  and  let  the  juice  flow  down  from  the 
corners  of  my  mouth,  so  that  it  looked  like  to- 
bacco juice,  I  gaped  at  everything,  and  listened 
with  wide-eyed  wonder,  I  felt  like  a  countryman, 
so  know  I  looked  like  one,  and  I  became,  immedi- 
ately, the  butt  of  the  jokes  and  jests  of  the 
"  spieler "  of  the  show  before  which  I  stood.  I 
think  I  can  fairly  hold  my  own  in  such  a  combat, 
and  the  audience  that  was  assembled,  generally 
seemed  to  think  so,  but  imagine  the  way  the  fur 
began  to  fly  when  Hubbard  arrived  and  chipped 
in,  and  Marshall  and  Von,  and  Bert  II,  and  each  of 
the  others.  Talk  about  a  stranger  dog  set  on  by 
a  dozen  home  dogs  —  it  was  nothing,  compared 
with  the  fun  we  had  badgering  and  baiting  that 
over-confident  spieler.  Then  I  moved  on  to  the 
next  stand,  far  enough  away,  however,  so  that  no 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

one  was  aware  of  our  plot.  The  crowd  soon 
"  tumbled "  and  followed,  and  we  repeated  the 
game  to  the  infinite  amazement  of  the  discomfited 
"  barkers."  It  was  the  wildest  revelry  of  good- 
natured,  good-humored,  spontaneous  fun  I  have 
ever  engaged  in,  and  a  thousand  years  can  never 
efface  its  memory. 

Dignity!  What  had  we  to  do  with  dignity? 
We  were  fun-makers,  delight-makers,  like  the  old- 
time  Indians  of  the  cliff-dwelling  days,  and  we 
went  into  the  game  with  vim,  energy,  earnestness, 
abandon,  and  enthusiasm. 

And  I  learned  a  wonderful  lesson,  once,  from 
Marshall  Wilder,  that  was  worth  many  a  long- 
winded  sermon  for  practical  usefulness  in  meeting 
the  hardships,  the  woes,  the  pains  of  life.  I  was 
on  the  stage  of  a  theater  with  him,  just  prepara- 
tory to  his  "  act."  He  was  suffering  excruciating 
agony  —  as  he  often  did,  from  his  frail  and  de- 
formed body  —  and  sweat  was  pouring  down  his 
brow  and  cheeks.  "  Put  your  arms  around  me, 
and  love  me  tight,  George !  "  he  gasped,  "  hold  me 
tight,"  and  I  held  him,  clasping  his  hands  also  in 
mine.  He  gripped  me  with  fierce  intensity,  clearly 
indicating  the  pain  he  was  in,  and  thus  we  stood, 
until  the  call  came  for  him.  Then,  wiping  his 
brow  and  face,  with  a  smile  that  was  at  once 
ghastly  and  sweet  in  its  pathos,  he  rushed  before 
his  audience,  and  had  them  laughing  at  his  merry 
236 


RADIANCIES     OF     HUMOR 

quips  and  quirks,  his  jests  and  jokes,  before 
I  could  recover  from  the  sympathy  I  felt  for 
his  deep  suffering.  Brave,  courageous,  plucky 
Marsh.  Ready  to  make  fun  for  others  in  spite 
of  his  own  pain.  How  often  when  men  come  to 
me  with  long  drawn-out  tales  of  their  woes,  their 
pains,  their  sufferings,  their  trials,  their  hardships, 
do  I  feel  like  saying  to  them :  "  Cut  it  out !  Go 
and  do  as  did  Marsh  Wilder.  Make  some  one 
else  laugh.  Make  some  one  else  happy,  and  you'll 
forget  your  own  troubles !  "  For  it  is  true.  The 
very  effort  of  concentration  upon  making  others 
laugh,  or  add  to  their  happiness,  largely,  if  not 
completely,  leads  to  a  forgetfulness  of  one's  own 
woes. 

Then,  too,  the  man  who  can  laugh  at  himself 
wins  a  hearing  from  the  world  that  nothing  else 
can  gain  for  him.  There  is  an  appeal,  somehow, 
in  this  fact,  that  is  irresistible.  Bishop  Peck, 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  was  a  Falstaffian  build  of 
man.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  he  weighed  a  full 
pound  for  every  day  in  the  year.  A  man  with 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  pounds  of  corporeal 
presence  naturally  possessed  an  aldermanic 
"  front "  of  compelling  proportions.  On  one  oc- 
casion the  Bishop  was  called  upon  at  the  General 
Conference  (which,  I  believe,  that  year  met  in 
Baltimore),  to  represent  the  church  upon  the 
Pacific  Coast.  The  good  bishop  had  a  habit  of 
237 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

always  stroking,  or  smoothing  down  his  vest, 
when  beginning  his  address,  and  at  this  time,  as 
he  arose,  and  began  his  deliberate  strokings  of  his 
vast  and  protuberant  rotundity,  he  accompanied  it 
with  the  words :  "  Brethren,  the  Pacific  Slope 
greets  you !  " 

His  amazement,  as  a  perfect  roar  of  laughter 
greeted  him  and  shook  the  building,  can  well  be 
imagined,  yet  he  did  not  lose  his  sang-froid.  In 
another  moment  he  had  grasped  the  fun  of  the 
situation,  and  laughing  with  the  vast  audience, 
seized  upon  that  as  a  theme  upon  which  he  played 
with  eloquence,  fervor,  and  power  in  an  extem- 
porized speech  which,  as  many  who  heard  it  say, 
he  never  surpassed  in  his  life. 

Suppose  his  "  dignity  "  had  prevented  his  join- 
ing in  the  laugh  at  himself !  What  an  opportunity 
he  would  have  lost. 

I  saw  a  similar  event  once  in  the  Free  Trade 
Hall,  in  Manchester,  England.  That  great  as- 
sembly hall  was  crowded,  awaiting  the  coming 
upon  the  platform  of  the  Conference  of  all  the 
Baptist  Ministers  of  Great  Britain.  We  had  been 
waiting  some  time  and  I,  for  one,  was  young 
enough  to  be  impatient  as  the  time  announced  drew 
near.  It  was  in  the  days  of  Moody  and  Sankey's 
great  revivals  in  England,  and  Sankey's  hymn, 
"  Hold  the  Fort !  "  had  captured  the  church-going 
238 


RADIANCIES     OF     HUMOR 

ear.  To  pass  away  the  time  I  started  the  song. 
The  audience  caught  on.  We  sang  the  first  verse 
and  the  chorus  with  vim  and  fervor.  Then,  just 
as  we  began  the  second  verse,  the  body  of  ministers 
began  to  march  on  to  the  platform,  led  by  their 
gray-haired  president.  Recall  the  lines  and  im- 
agine the  result  as  the  words  of  the  marching 
ministers  were  united  in  our  thoughts ! 

See  the  mighty  host  advancing 
Satan  leading  on! 

Some  of  us  shrieked  with  laughter.  One  man 
near  me  nearly  had  a  fit  of  hysterics.  They  say 
Englishmen  can't  see  a  joke.  I  never  saw  an 
American  audience  "  catch  on  "  any  quicker  than 
did  that  Manchester  one.  In  a  moment  the  sing- 
ing stopped  and  the  place  was  in  an  uproar  of 
wildest  laughter.  The  good  president  at  first 
seemed  nonplused  and  confused,  but  some  one 
must  have  explained  it  to  him,  for  before  the  minis- 
ters had  scarce  taken  their  seats,  he  advanced  to 
the  edge  of  the  platform,  secured  silence,  and  be- 
gan to  the  effect :  "  Beloved  friends  f  If  we 
seem  like  the  hosts  of  evil,  marching  with  Satan 
at  their  head,  we  belie  our  looks.  The  Evil  One 
has  blinded  your  eyes.  We  are  the  army  of  the 
other  side.  We  are  Christian  soldiers,  engaged  in 
a  never-to-cease  conflict  with  that  army  of  evil 

239 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

that  we  shall  assuredly  conquer,"  and  so  on,  giv- 
ing one  of  the  most  pertinent,  direct,  spontaneous, 
and  truly  eloquent  of  addresses. 

He  rose  to  the  occasion  —  joined  in  the  laugh 
upon  himself,  won  his  audience,  and  then  used  the 
sympathy  he  had  gained,  to  strike  home  some  deep 
and  important  truths. 

This  is  what  I  want  to  live,  to  radiate:  love  of 
humor,  readiness  to  laugh  at  it  even  though  it  be 
laughing  at  myself,  ready  to  make  it  when  I  can 
for  others,  ready  to  join  in  other  people's  appre- 
ciation of  it. 


240 


CHAPTER  XX 

RADIANCIES    OF    THE    "  ETERNAL    NOW  " 

IS  there  any  past,  any  future,  in  our  lives?  If 
I  look  back  upon  the  past,  or  anticipate  the  future, 
whether  with  joy  or  pleasure,  do  I  not  do  it  in  the 
now?  To-morrow  never  comes,  for  when  it  arrives 
it  is  no  longer  to-morrow, —  it  is  now.  Life  is  one 
eternal  now.  The  great  trouble,  however,  with 
most  people,  is  that  they  have  not  learned  that 
fact.  They  do  not  live  in  the  now,  they  sit 'down 
and  lament  over  the  past;  weep  that  its  joys  are 
gone,  its  glories  faded,  altogether  oblivious  of  the 
resplendent  beauties  that  now  surround  them,  the 
radiant  joyousnesses  that  environ  them,  NOW. 
Or,  they  sit  in  fond  anticipation,  in  expectation, 
with  impatient  waiting  for  to-morrow,  for  next 
week,  for  next  year,  ignoring  the  immediate  and 
present  sweet  singing  of  the  birds,  the  exquisite 
daintiness  of  the  flowers,  their  delicate  fragrance, 
the  majesty  and  sublimity  of  the  snowy  mountain 
peaks,  the  upright  stateliness  of  the  trees,  the  su- 
pernal clarity  of  the  sky,  the  pellucidness  of  the  at- 
mosphere, the  champagne-like  quality  of  the  air, 
NOW. 

What  time  we  lose,  waste,  pervert,  by  forgetting 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

the  duty,  the  j  oy,  the  delight  of  living  in  the  Eter- 
nal Now.  Take  your  joys  as  they  come  along. 
It  is  the  Divine  plan  that  every  moment  shall  be 
filled  with  His  joy  —  the  joy  of  living,  of  being. 

Eyes  are  given  to  see  with  now!  Are  you  using 
them  now  ?  Do  you  gaze  upon  the  grass,  the  trees, 
the  flitting  butterflies,  the  busy  insects,  the  bees, 
the  beautiful  birds,  the  clouds,  the  sky,  the  sea, 
the  rippling  cascades,  the  everyihwg  of  Nature, 
NOW,  and  enjoy  their  many-formed,  many-hued, 
many-graced  splendors. 

Ears  are  given  for  hearing  now! 

Are  yours  alert  for  all  the  sweet,  the  pleasant, 
the  comforting,  the  joyous,  the  sublime  sounds  that 
might  come  to  them  now?  Or  are  you  like  the 
"  fools  and  blind  "  who  will  sit  at  a  Boston  Sym- 
phony concert  and  gabble  gossip  or  retail  slander  ? 

Palates  are  given  to  taste  with  now! 

Are  you  tasting  the  apples,  the  rare  luciousness 
of  grapes,  peaches,  oranges,  plums,  and  the  thou- 
sand and  one  delicate  fruits  now,  or  are  you  re- 
gretting the  lost  truffles,  the  sauces,  the  spices, 
the  wines,  the  stimulating  things  of  yesterday,  or 
longing  for  the  Lucullus  repasts  of  to-morrow? 

Oh,  the  content  and  happiness  of  taking  joys  as 
they  come,  in  their  simpleness  and  naturalness,  in 
their  every-day,  common,  normal  order;  of  look- 
ing for  them,  expecting  them,  anticipating  them, 
going  out,  as  it  were,  to  meet  them. 


THE     "ETERNAL     NOW 

Is  it  only  a  walk  of  ten  blocks  (or  five)  to  the 
store,  or  office,  or  school?  Are  you  ready  as  you 
step  out  of  your  door  to  inhale  the  fragrance  of 
the  morning  air,  or  enjoy  its  own  peculiar  delight 
if  the  morning  is  wet,  misty,  foggy,  rainy?  Do 
you  see  the  moving  and  sun-lit  clouds ;  the  clear 
sky,  the  rustling  leaves  of  the  trees ;  the  hopping 
of  the  happy  birds;  the  joyousness  of  the  children 
walking  to  school? 

Be  alert,  receptive,  ready.  Seize  the  small  joy 
of  the  now,  and  you  will  find  it  far  more  delightful 
than  all  the  anticipations,  and  even  the  realizations 
of  what  seem  to  be  the  large  joys  of  the  to-morrow. 

One  of  the  saddest  pictures  on  canvas  to  me  is 
one  called  "  The  Pursuit  of  Pleasure."  It  repre- 
sents a  female  figure  as  Pleasure,  floating  through 
the  air,  and  followed  by  an  eager  crowd  of  men  and 
women,  of  all  ages  and  conditions  in  life.  Reach- 
ing, grasping,  breathless,  regardless  of  their 
tramplings  upon  each  other,  indifferent  that  some 
of  their  whilom  companions  are  fallen  and  cannot 
arise,  and  that  hopeless  despair  is  depicted  in  their 
eyes  and  faces,  each  and  all  of  the  remaining  strug- 
glers  fix  their  eyes  upon  the  phantom  though  al- 
luring figure.  And  thus  the  pursuit  goes  on  con- 
tinuously ;  there  is  no  reaching  her ;  she  is  ever  illu- 
sive and  evasive,  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  ever 
beckoning  yet  ever  retreating. 

In   her    sculptured    fountain   at    the    Panama- 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Pacific  Exposition,  Mrs.  Harry  Payne  Whitney 
expresses  the  same  idea,  but  even  more  forcefully 
than  does  the  picture.  Here  are  thirty-seven 
figures  nearly  all  intent  upon  reaching  their  goal 
of  happiness.  They  cannot  even  see  what  it  is. 
Yet  the  eagerness  depicted  upon  the  faces,  in  the 
straining  attitudes,  the  strenuous  striving  in  that 
one  direction,  all  typify  the  desire,  the  intent- 
ness,  the  resolute  pursuit  of  happiness.  Then, 
alas,  when  the  doors  are  reached,  they  are  both 
found  closed,  guarded  by  Assyrian  and  Egyptian 
figures,  that  suggest  the  occult  mystery  of  the  be- 
yond, and  that  look  down  sternly  and  unyieldingly 
upon  the  two  figures  at  their  feet,  long  strivers, 
evidently  pleading  for  the  admission  that  is  denied 
them.  There  are  two  definite,  distinct,  and  differ- 
ent ways  in  which  these  two  allegories  can  be  in- 
terpreted. One  is  that  mankind  ever  lives  in  the 
world  of  the  senses,  pursuing  the  gratifications  of 
the  now,  the  f eastings,  the  drinkings,  the  carous- 
ings,  the  pleasuring,  the  wantonings  of  the  sense- 
life,  the  sensual  life,  and  that  such  a  pursuit  is 
ever  doomed  to  failure,  for  man  —  the  spiritual, 
created  in  God's  own  image  —  can  never  be  satis- 
fied with  the  temporary  things  of  earth  and  sense. 
The  other  interpretation  is  that  man  is  ever  seek- 
ing for  some  far-off,  great,  extraordinary  pleas- 
ure, joy,  or  satisfaction,  something  in  the  future, 
rather  than  living  in  the  smaller  joys  of  the  now. 


THE     "ETERNAL     NOW 

The  child  longs  to  be  the  youth  or  maiden,  enjoy- 
ing "  sitting  up  at  nights,"  "  going  to  parties," 
"  eating  candies,"  "  going  out  with  the  boys," 
"  smoking  like  a  man  " ;  the  youth  eagerly  works 
for  the  time  when  he  shall  be  his  own  master,  con- 
trol his  own  business ;  the  maiden,  have  her  lover, 
marry  successfully,  become  the  mistress  of  her  own 
house ;  the  grown  man  looks  forward  to  and  works 
desperately  for  the  time  when  he  shall  have  "  made 
his  pile,"  and  the  woman  to  "  an  assured  place  in 
society."  These,  and  a  thousand  and  one  "  pur- 
suits "  engage  men  and  women. 

In  my  own  life  I  am  eagerly  desirous  to  radiate 
the  opposite  of  both  of  these  conceptions.  I  cer- 
tainly do  not  wish  to  belong  to  the  class  pictured 
in  Christ's  parable  of  the  rich  man;  he  who 
thought  only  of  the  so-called  good  things  of  this 
life  which  he  would  enjoy  now  —  he  who  said: 
"  Let  us  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for  to-morrow 
we  die."  The  slightest  observation  of  life,  of  the 
men  and  women  one  meets  daily,  soon  convinces 
one  of  the  hollowness,  the  dissatisfaction,  the  in- 
completeness of  all  earthly  things.  The  subject  is 
too  trite  to  need  any  amplification.  Yet,  the  won- 
der of  it  is,  that,  in  spite  of  this  fact,  the  great 
majority  of  people  still  thus  strive  for  wealth, 
place,  power,  honor,  social  success,  possessions,  at- 
tainments. Why  is  it  that  this  ignis  fatuus  has 
such  power  of  allurement?  Why  is  it  that  men 
245 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

and  women  are  so  foolish,  so  slow  to  rule  their 
actions  by  their  own  inner  spiritual  awakenings, 
rather  than  the  habits  and  fashions  followed  by 
others? 

I  have  no  desire  or  ambition  for  fame,  for  honor, 
for  success,  for  place,  for  power,  as  such.  They 
are  useless  to  me  save  as  I  may  use  them  for  the 
benefit,  the  happiness,  the  pleasure  of  my  fellows. 
I  am  slowly  awakening  to  the  realization  of  what 
I  believe  now  to  be  a  primal  fact,  viz.,  that  all  a 
man  can  really  hold  and  enjoy  in  his  living  hand, 
in  his  soul,  in  his  life,  is  that  which  he  gives  away, 
shares,  distributes  among  his  fellows. 

Elsewhere  I  have  quoted  Joaquin  Miller's  lines 
from  Peter  Cooper:  , 

Far  all  you  can  hold  in  your  dead,  cold  hand, 
Is  what  you  have  given  away. 

I  now  wish  to  radiate  my  belief  in  the  enlarge- 
ment of  that  idea  as  stated  above.  Even  knowl- 
edge can  give  no  real  satisfaction  unless  shared, 
given  to  others ;  the  joy  of  a  picture  owned  is  lost 
unless  others  can  enjoy  with  you.  In  other  words, 
the  possession  of  anything  -for  self  alone  is  de- 
structive of  happiness.  One  learns  slowly  but 
surely  that  even  in  these  things  of  the  mind  and 
the  soul: 

That  man  who  lives  for  self  alone 
Lives  for  the  meanest  mortal  known. 

246 


CHAPTER  XXI 

RADIANCIES    OF    EXTREMES 

is  made  up  of  extremes  and  everything  that 
comes  between  them.  There  is  the  North  Pole  and 
there  is  the  South  Pole.  There  is  the  heat  of  the 
fiery  furnace  and  the  cold  of  the  Arctic  Zone. 
There  is  the  height  of  heaven  and  the  depth  of 
hell ;  the  voice  of  the  thunder  and  the  whisper  of 
the  gentle  zephyr. 

Man  is  a  singular  being.  He  is  as  diverse  as  is 
the  manifold  face  of  Nature  upon  which  he  gazes. 
His  likes  and  dislikes  are  many  and  varied.  Men 
of  equal  intelligence  and  equal  powers  differ  in 
their  ways  of  looking  at  the  same  thing.  The 
poet  Browning  effectively  states  this  when  he  says : 

Ten  men  love  what  I  hate, 

Shun  what  I   follow,  slight  what  I  receive; 

Ten,  who  in  ears  and  eyes 

Match  mine." 

In  the  face  of  such  facts  one  is  compelled  to  the 
conclusion  that  personal  idiosyncrasy  or  individual 
preference  alone  can  decide  what  it  wants,  needs, 
and  must  have,  in  this  large  diversity  that  is  of- 
fered it. 

247 


LIVING    THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

The  fact  that  ten  men  who  have  equal  powers  of 
observation  and  reflection  as  myself  love  the  things 
that  I  hate,  and  reject  the  things  that  I  receive, 
has  absolutely  no  influence  in  deciding  me  in  re- 
gard to  the  things  that  I  hate  and  receive,  any 
more  than  the  fact  that  I  hate  and  receive  things 
to  which  they  have  the  antagonistic  feeling  in- 
fluences them ;  hence  it  is  useless  for  me  to  attempt 
to  enforce  my  likings  and  antipathies  upon  others, 
even  as  it  is  useless  for  them  to  attempt  to  force 
theirs  upon  me. 

So  I  have  been  led  to  accept  the  philosophy, 
which  I  wish  to  radiate  to  all  men,  that  it  appears 
to  me  the  Divine  Wisdom  has  provided  for  these 
personal  idiosyncrasies  of  human  nature  by  giving 
to  us  the  extremes  of  things  with  everything  that 
lies  between.  So,  regardless  of  my  own  preference, 
I  believe  that  the  strong  wind  is  as  much  a  benef- 
icent force  of  Nature  as  is  the  zephyr ;  the  thun- 
dering cataract  of  Yosemite  as  the  placid  Mirror 
Lake ;  the  avalanche  as  the  snowflake ;  the  thunder 
as  the  violet ;  the  earthquake  as  the  rippling  rill ; 
the  blazing  meteor  as  the  Milky  Way ;  the  flaming 
sun-spots  as  the  sparkling  dewdrop ;  the  fiery  vol- 
cano as  the  quiet  glowworm;  the  giant  sequoia  as 
the  tiny  forget-me-not;  the  thundering  breakers 
of  ocean  as  the  gentle  pattering  raindrop;  the 
fiery  boiling  geyser  as  the  silently  flowing  fountain ; 
the  dazzling  comet  as  the  serene  fixed  star;  the 
248 


RADIANCIES     OF    EXTREMES 

rugged  Grand  Canyon  as  the  flower-besprinkled 
sward ;  the  monster  whale  as  the  tiny  gold-fish ;  the 
giant  elephant  as  the  timid  mouse;  the  blaring 
trumpet  as  the  soothing  guitar ;  the  startling  ket- 
tle-drum as  the  smoothly  flowing  'cello ;  the  clang- 
ing cymbals  as  the  seductive  oboe. 

I  firmly  believe  and  wish  to  radiate  my  belief 
that  God  has  as  much  use  for  the  man  of  the  farm 
as  for  the  man  of  the  drawing-room;  the  rude- 
ness of  "  The  man  with  the  hoe  "  as  the  smooth- 
ness of  the  man  with  the  higher  education.  He 
needs  the  arid  desert  as  well  as  the  fertile  plain; 
the  wild  ruggedness  of  the  ravine  as  well  as  the 
cultivated  garden;  the  colorless  abysses  of  the 
glacier  as  well  as  the  flower-besprinkled  foothills. 
He  has  use  for  the  snowy  plains  of  the  north  as 
well  as  the  rice  fields  of  the  south ;  the  cactus  as 
well  as  the  orchid ;  the  giant  suaharo  as  well  as  the 
shrinking  gilia;  the  prickly  pear,  as  the  velvety 
peach ;  the  sword-fish,  as  the  nautilus ;  the  shark 
as  the  flying-fish ;  the  flaming  sunrises  and  sunsets, 
as  the  tender  tints  of  the  lily,  and  the  night-bloom- 
ing cereus ;  the  deep  purples,  as  well  as  the  blush 
rose ;  the  glowing  yellows  as  the  softer  blues ;  the 
piercing  greens  as  the  quieter  violets.  The  bluffs 
and  promontories  that  thrust  their  heads  out  into 
the  ocean  are  as  much  a  part  of  God's  great  out- 
of-doors  and  of  as  much  use  as  are  the  placid  land- 
scapes ;  the  mountain  heights  as  much  needed  as 
249 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

are  the  flower-bespangled  levels ;  the  vast  reaches 
of  prairie  as  the  secluded  and  confined  valley. 
The  piercing  cold  of  the  Arctic  has  as  much  a  place 
in  Nature  as  the  alluring  mildness  of  Southern 
California  or  the  Riviera ;  the  monster  tides  of  the 
Bay  of  Fundy  as  the  ripples  of  the  placid  pool. 

The  sturdy  and  warlike  Viking  has  as  much  a 
place  in  history  as  the  diplomatic  and  artistic 
Italian;  the  Negro  as  the  Caucasian;  the  China- 
man as  the  French;  the  Oriental  as  the  English; 
the  Japanese  as  the  American. 

El  Capitan  and  Gibraltar  are  not  exquisitely 
carved  statues  by  Canova  or  Thorwaldsen,  but 
they  have  just  as  much  a  place  in  the  history  of 
the  world's  development. 

The  wilds  of  the  high  Sierras,  in  all  their  rude 
and  majestic  splendor,  rugged  and  tremendous 
vastness,  where  clear-eyed,  horny-handed,  strong- 
oathed,  and  rudely  clad  men  wander  and  labor,  are 
very  different  from  the  city  drawing-rooms, — 
those  places  of  pink  teas  and  white  kid-gloved  men 
and  women ;  those  breeding  places  of  superficial 
conventionality  and  effete  conceptions  of  people 
and  life,  but  I  doubt  not  that  the  high  Sierras 
have  produced  more  of  benefit  to  mankind  than  all 
the  drawing-rooms  of  all  the  civilizations. 

I  love  the  pastoral  and  quiet  landscapes  of  the 
Connecticut  River  Valley,  of  placid  Killarney,  of 
the  quiet  vale  of  Avoca,  of  picturesque  Normandy, 
250 


RADIANCIES     OF    EXTREMES 

but  the  passion,  power,  majesty,  sublimity,  soli- 
tude, dreariness  and  desolation  of  the  far-reaching 
Colorado  Desert,  deep  descending  Grand  Canyon, 
bold  escarpments  of  the  Red  Rock  country,  and 
other  tremendous  and  solitary  places  of  Nature 
command  me,  allure  me,  appeal  to  me,  and  domi- 
nate me  quicker  than  the  quiet  places  of  beauty. 

What,  in  Nature,  to  some  men  is  the  end  of 
things  to  others  is  the  beginning.  The  sacred 
writer  says  that  God  even  "  maketh  the  wrath  of 
men  to  praise  him,"  as  well  as  their  love  and  ten- 
derness. 

Life  is  not  all  comprised  about  a  slender  figure 
and  transparent  profile ;  faultless  coils  of  hair ; 
soft,  rich,  clinging  garments ;  laces  falling  over 
taper  fingers ;  graceful  and  dignified  demeanor ;  low 
and  sweetly  modulated  voice,  and  the  perfection 
of  faultless  manners.  There  may  be  a  place  for 
the  rude,  uncouth  clodhopper  with  disfigured  fea- 
tures; tousled  hair;  clad  in  homespun  or  cheap 
denim ;  rags  taking  the  place  of  lace ;  boorish  and 
clumsy  demeanor ;  a  voice  like  a  steamer  foghorn ; 
and  the  apotheosis  of  all  that  is  blundering  and 
awkward  in  manner. 

I  do  not,  for  one  moment,  defend  any  unneces- 
sary boorishness  or  uncouthness  of  manner,  and 
must  not  be  understood  as  doing  so,  but  at  the 
same  time,  in  spite  of  these  things,  I  am  impelled 
to  state  my  conviction  that  the  latter  class  is  more 
251 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

needful  to  the  real  progress  of  the  world  than  the 
former.  I  notice  that  several  times  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  canal-drivers,  shepherd-boys,  wood- 
choppers,  and  rail-splitters  have  made  wonderful 
pilots  for  the  Ship  of  State. 

God  has  use  in  His  world  for  the  rough  as  well 
as  the  polished;  the  roar  of  the  thunder  as  well 
as  the  coo  of  the  dove;  the  stentorian  trumpet- 
tone  as  well  as  the  still,  small  voice.  John  the 
Baptist  came  from  the  desert  robed  in  skins  and 
camel's  hair ;  his  voice,  doubtless,  was  not  soft  and 
well-modulated  as  were  those  of  Herodias  and 
Salome.  He  was  "  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the 
wilderness."  His  call  contained  the  thunder  tones 
of  the  storm  and  wild  cry  of  the  lonely  eagle  seek- 
ing its  solitary  aerie ;  the  strength  and  the  roar  of 
the  lion.  It  was  neither  refined,  pleasing,  nor  cul- 
tured, but  it  possessed  life  and  power  and  it  was 
chosen  to  herald  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 

Nowhere  have  we  been  told  that  Elijah,  Jere- 
miah and  Daniel  were  noted  for  the  soft  and  dulcet 
tones  of  their  voices,  yet  they  were  the  chosen 
instruments  of  the  Divine  in  overthrowing  dynas- 
ties and  changing  the  history  of  nations.  Peter 
the  Hermit  was  not  a  sweet-voiced  singer  in  Israel, 
but  he  started  a  movement  that  led  to  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Europe.  I  doubt  not  that  the  charges  of 
the  British  against  Joan  of  Arc  that  she  cried  in 
a  coarse  military  voice  when  she  led  the  armored 


RADIANCIES     OF    EXTREMES 

hosts  of  France  were  true,  but  she  drove  the  for- 
eign invader  from  the  soil  of  her  beloved  France 
where  they  had  held  footing  for  nigh  upon  a  hun- 
dred years  and  no  one  else  had  been  able  to  win  a 
victory  from  them. 

I  doubt  not  there  were  times  when  Grant's  voice 
did  not  possess  the  mellow  and  refined  quality  of 
the  drawing-room  exquisite,  but  he  won  victories 
and  made  a  united  people  possible.  John  Brown 
was  rude,  rough,  uncouth,  boorish,  when  compared 
with  the  refined  and  polished  cavaliers  of  the  South. 
They  called  him  a  bandit,  an  invader,  a  revolu- 
tionist, an  anarchist,  and  they  captured  and 
hanged  him,  but  to  thousands  of  men  his  crazy 
dream  of  the  invasion  of  the  South  to  forcibly  com- 
pel the  freedom  of  the  slave  is  being  more  and 
more  seen  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  wise  men  to 
have  been  one  of  the  most  practical  and  effective 
means  of  calling  the  attention  of  men  to  the  moral 
principle  involved  in  the  question  of  slavery,  as  to 
whether  men  of  one  color  of  blood  or  skin  had  the 
right  to  hold  in  bondage  men  of  a  different  color. 

When  Theodore  Parker  was  denouncing  the  in- 
iquities of  any  and  all  slavery,  his  voice  was  not  as 
soft  and  gentle  and  sweetly  modulated  as  that  of 
Longfellow,  yet  it  played  as  important  a  part  in 
the  history  of  the  development  of  mankind  and 
stirred  men  to  higher  endeavor  on  the  part  of  their 
suffering  and  down-trodden  fellows. 
253 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

What,  then,  is  the  upshot  of  the  whole  matter? 
It  seems  to  me  it  is  this :  Listen  to  the  voice  that 
appeals  to  your  own  soul ;  that  lifts  you  from  the 
lower  to  the  higher;  that  thrills  you  to  deeds  of 
heroism,  that  stimulates  you  to  acts  of  nobleness, 
that  calls  you  to  a  life  of  helpful  self-sacrifice ;  and 
while  doing  this,  cease  to  criticise,  to  find  fault,  to 
censure  the  kind  of  voice  to  which  you  do  not  care 
to  listen.  The  strong,  vigorous,  robust,  red- 
blooded  man  of  the  out-of-doors  generally  will  not 
speak  nor  act  with  the  perfect  restraint  and  con- 
ventionality of  the  man  born  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  drawing-room,  but  his  message  may  be  just  as 
helpful  to  the  world,  and  as  divinely  inspired  as 
that  of  his  more  refined  and  dignified  prototype. 


254 


CHAPTER  XXII 

ABSORPTION    IN    RELATION    TO    RADIATION) 

IVlOST  important  factors  in  Living  the  Radiant 
Life  are  Living  the  Life  of  Possession  and  Living 
the  Absorptive  Life.  To  radiate  one  must  possess, 
and  to  possess  one  must  absorb.  To  give  largely 
and  well,  one  must  receive  largely  and  well.  The 
Absorptive  Life  is  as  essential  as  the  Radiant  Life. 
Out  in  the  great  silences  are  the  eloquent  voices 
of  God  ready  to  speak  to  the  attentive  soul;  out 
in  Nature  a  million  voices  are  ready  to  impart 
knowledge  to  the  ignorant.  All  one  has  to  do  to 
receive  is  to  "  ask  " ;  not  with  the  voice  but  with 
the  whole  being.  As  a  sponge  absorbs  water  up 
to  the  limit  of  its  capacity,  so  should  man  absorb, 
and  then,  unlike  the  sponge,  which  must  be 
squeezed  from  without  ere  it  will  give  off  that  which 
it  has  received,  man  should  radiate  from  within 
all  that  he  has  received, 

There  are  few  people  in  the  world  who  are  true 

absorbers.     We  are  so  full  of  prejudices,  conceits, 

notions,  that  we  refuse  to  receive  from  this,  that, 

or  the  other  source,  because,  forsooth,  we  in  our 

255 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

pride  deem  the  source  unworthy.  The  true  life 
receives  from  every  source.  Call  nothing  unclean. 
All  things  are  yours.  God  is  over  and  in  all. 
Prove  all  things.  Open  your  heart  to  all  good 
from  whatever  source.  Stand  humbly  before  God 
ready  to  receive.  Keep  your  hands  open;  your 
eyes,  your  ears,  your  nostrils,  your  whole  nature 
in  a  state  of  active  receptivity.  Be  afraid  of 
nothing.  Some  one  comes  and  tells  you  that  in 
this  or  that  he  has  found  spiritual  life  and  help. 
You,  however,  have  been  taught  to  regard  that  as 
a  dangerous  thing,  so  you  are  afraid  of  it.  Arise 
and  be  above  such  fears.  Are  you  a  man,  a 
woman,  a  human  soul,  made  in  the  image  of  God 
and  given  powers  of  thought,  of  discernment,  of 
decision?  Or  are  you  a  mere  puppet  to  be  worked 
by  the  string  of  other  men's  thoughts,  other  men's 
ideas,  other  men's  opinions?  Listen  for  yourself; 
think  for  yourself;  decide  for  yourself;  act  for 
yourself.  If  a  thing  seems  right  to  your  own  soul 
do  it  though  the  heavens  fall  and  you  suffer  the 
condemnation  of  all  mankind.  True  and  rapid 
progress  will  never  come  to  the  race  until  individ- 
ual men  learn  that  they  alone  are  the  arbiters  of 
their  own  destiny. 

Go  out  into  Nature,  into  the  silences,  into  the 

workshops   and  the  marts   of  trade   and  absorb. 

Listen  to  every  good  voice  that  speaks,  and  if  you 

are  not  sure  whether  the  voice  is  good  or  not,  lis- 

256 


ABSORPTION 

ten  anyhow  and  "  prove  "  it  by  the  infallible  tests 
of  purity,  unselfishness,  and  uplift. 

Every  human  soul  may  be  a  wireless  telegraph 
receiver.  God  is  flashing  out  messages  every  mo- 
ment from  His  million  and  one  instruments  all  over 
the  universe.  They  are  all  kinds  of  messages  — 
but  all  from  the  one  spirit,  and  therefore  all  spirit- 
ual. They  appeal  to  the  bodies,  the  minds,  the 
souls  of  men,  and  all  you  have  to  do  to  receive  them 
is  to  have  your  receiving  apparatus  of  body,  mind, 
and  soul  attuned  to  the  sending  apparatus  of  the 
Loving  Sender.  Get  in  tune.  Cry  out  to  God: 
I  want  all  there  is.  I  cast  aside  all  prejudgments, 
all  conceits,  all  ideas.  Let  me  hear  direct  from 
Thee.  Go  out  into  the  fields  and  receive  from  the 
spirit  that  is  in,  over,  and  about  Nature.  Every 
tree,  flower,  grass,  bird,  insect,  animal,  cloud, 
storm,  rock,  stream  has  a  message  for  you  if  you 
will  but  hear  it.  Love  alone  can  open  your  heart 
to  receive;  it  is  the  key  with  which  the  soul  and 
mind  and  body  are  set  in  tune.  Get  yourself  into 
relationship  with  Nature.  Feel  your  kinship. 
God  is  the  Father  of  every  tree  as  much  as  he  is 
your  Father.  Go  and  claim  your  family.  And 
claim  all  the  good  they  possess  as  your  own,  for 
it  is  yours  and  merely  awaits  your  taking.  As  a 
child  you  did  this  with  your  mother.  The  nourish- 
ment of  her  breasts,  the  gentle  hush  of  her  voice, 
the  soothing  touch  of  her  fingers,  the  brooding 
257 


LIVING    THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

yearning  of  her  love ;  all  these  were  yours  the  mo- 
ment you  cried  out  for  them.  Mother  Nature  is 
as  full  of  the  spirit  of  Love  as  your  physical 
mother.  Indeed  the  latter  is  one  in  spirit  with  the 
former.  Call  out  then.  Demand,  with  the  simple 
expectancy  of  the  child,  all  that  you  need.  Call 
for  it  confident  that  it  will  come.  Expect  it,  and 
according  to  your  expectancy  it  will  be  given  unto 
you. 

But  to  do  this  you  must  be  a  true  child  of  your 
Nature  Mother.  You  must  confidently  lean  on  her 
breast,  you  must  confidently  blend  yourself  with 
her,  you  must  let  her  touch  you  as  your  mother 
used  to  touch  you  when,  a  helpless  babe,  you  lay 
in  your  cradle.  Her  hand  went  all  over  your  body, 
from  head  to  foot,  with  loving,  soothing  caress. 
Let  the  sun  and  the  breezes  touch  your  body  in 
like  fashion.  Their  fingers  will  soothe  with  mes- 
meric power  and  at  the  same  time  bring  health  and 
strength  and  vigor,  and  withal,  peace.  Go  and 
lie  down  on  the  bosom  of  the  Earth  Mother;  feel 
her  pulsating  heart,  and  in  time,  when  you  have 
forgotten  your  artificiality  and  pretension,  your 
so-called  civilization  and  culture,  and  found  anew 
your  kinship  with  the  Earth,  you  will  feel  the  whole 
power  of  Nature  pulsing  through  your  veins ;  the 
fever  of  your  unhealthy  blood  will  be  soothed  and 
it  will  flow  naturally  and  coolly  as  the  sweet  sap 
258 


ABSORPTION 

that  ascends  to  the  nourishment  of  the  topmost 
branch  and  leaf. 

And  when  life  has  wounded  you,  cut  you,  torn 
you  almost  limb  from  limb,  and  you  feel  and  see 
yourself  only  an  almost  dismembered  trunk,  Na- 
ture will  soothe  and  heal  you.  Your  wounds  will 
soon  be  scarred  over  and  the  trees,  the  ferns,  the 
birds,  the  grasses,  the  squirrels,  the  bees,  the  buds, 
the  blossoms,  and  the  butterflies, —  all  —  will  as- 
sociate with  you  on  equal  terms.  They  will  neither 
laugh  at  you  nor  repel  you,  but  as  loving  friends 
come  and  associate  with  you  in  sweet  and  dear  kin- 
ship. You  will  walk  through  the  aisled  forest  tem- 
ples of  God  repentant  and  forgiven  for  sins  of  the 
past,  and  shame  and  sorrow  will  flee  away,  re- 
placed by  the  calm  joy  of  the  peace  that  flows  into 
the  receiving  heart  like  a  river.  You  will  undress 
and  bathe  in  the  sunshine  and  the  pools,  the  creeks 
and  the  rivers,  fearless  and  unabashed,  for  you  will 
have  exposed  your  soul  to  the  soul  of  things ;  real 
shame  has  nothing  to  do  with  externals. 

But,  you  ask,  how  am  I  to  begin  to  observe  and 
thus  absorb  the  good  gifts  of  God  into  my  very 
life  in  order  that  I  may  live  and  radiate  them  to 
others  ?  Let  me  help  you  to  begin ! 

To  be  satisfied  is  to  stagnate  and  petrify.  In 
his  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,  Robert  Browning  has  three 
pregnant  lines: 

259 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

What  I  aspired  to  be, 

And  was  not,  comforts  me: 

A  brute  I  might  have  been,  but  would  not  sink  i'  the  scale. 

The  aspiring  soul  is  the  one  reaching  out  to 
absorb.  One  might  be  a  satisfied  brute  by  closing 
all  the  avenues  of  aspiration  and  high  ambition, 
but  it  is  immeasurably  better  to  be  an  unsatisfied, 
aspiring  man  rather  than  the  satisfied  low-minded 
brute. 

Aspiration  is  the  hunger  of  the  soul.  Hunger 
implies  need.  So  foster  —  cultivate  —  your  hun- 
ger. The  hungry  seek  for  food,  and  food  gives 
new  life,  new  growth,  new  strength,  new  power. 
The  Universe  of  God  is  full  of  food  for  man's  mind 
and  soul.  And  it  is  of  infinite  variety,  capable  of 
nourishing  myriads  of  soul-powers  that  now  lie 
dormant  in  your  nature.  Awaken  to  your  needs. 
Be  on  the  lookout  every  moment  for  the  free  gifts 
of  God  that  hang  from  the  trees  of  life  that  grow 
in  every  back  yard  as  well  as  on  high  mountains 
and  in  every  fertile  orchard. 

There  is  a  great  deal  more  in  this  expression, 
"  cultivate  a  hunger,"  than  at  first  sight  appears. 
People  who  satisfy  their  lower  appetites  know 
nothing  of  the  true  hunger  of  the  soul.  And  con- 
sequently when  they  see  the  food  designed  by  the 
Almighty  Love  and  Wisdom  to  satisfy  to  the  full 
all  the  demands  of  true  hunger,  these  grossly  con- 
tented minds  pass  them  by,  their  eyes  are  closed 
260 


ABSORPTION 

so  that  they  see  not;  their  senses  are  dulled  so 
that  they  smell  pot,  hear  not,  feel  not,  taste  not. 
I  have  seen  people  fast  from  every  kind  of  food, 
solid  or  liquid,  for  ten,  twenty,  thirty  or  forty,  and 
in  one  case  even  for  eighty  days.  At  the  end  of 
these  fasts,  the  fasters  related  with  delight  their 
keen  pleasure  and  satisfaction  at  realizing  what 
real  hunger  was  as  differentiated  from  the  mere 
appetite  for  food  that  they  had  felt  prior  to  their 
fasts.  As  a  rule  we  eat  too  much.  We  satiate 
ourselves  upon  foods  that  are  not  always  good  for 
us,  and  thus  destroy  the  true  normal  appetite  for 
pure,  good,  healthful,  simple  foods. 

Among  these  people  who  fasted  were  several  who 
were  thin  and  poorly  nourished,  and  yet  who  had 
abnormal  appetites  and  ate  far  more  food  than 
those  who  were  robust,  hearty,  vigorous,  and 
strong.  The  physician  said,  what  was  self-evi- 
dent, that  the  more  food  they  ate,  the  less  nour- 
ished they  became,  because  they  overloaded  them- 
selves with  food  and  much  of  it  was  the  wrong  kind. 
In  was  hard  work  for  these  people  to  fast,  but  at 
the  close  of  the  fast,  their  abnormal  and  unnatural 
appetite  had  disappeared  and  in  its  stead  had  come 
a  true,  normal  hunger  which  revealed  to  them  the 
right  kind  of  food  that  they  should  eat  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  the  body  and  which,  when  they  did 
eat,  was  immediately  assimilated.  The  result  was 
that  within  a  month  or  two,  after  having  learned 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

what  real  hunger  was  as  differentiated  from  per- 
verted appetite,  they  were  fat  and  rosy,  plump  and 
vigorous,  beautiful  and  energetic. 

It  is  exactly  the  same  in  our  mental  and  spiritual 
life.  We  feed  upon  the  grosser  foods  to  satiation 
and  repletion  and  the  result  is  that  we  suffer  from 
mental  and  spiritual  dyspepsia  and  are  pale,  thin, 
anaemic  and  weak,  where  we  should  be  beautiful, 
vigorous,  energetic,  and  strong.  Quit  stuffing  and 
craving  the  lower  foods.  Stay  away  from  the 
theater,  the  vaudeville,  the  cheap  show.  Quit 
reading  the  sensational  novel,  the  trashy  story  of 
excitement.  Give  your  brain,  your  mind,  your 
soul,  a  rest.  Fast  a  while.  Do  as  Elijah  did,  as 
Jesus,  as  Mahomet.  Go  into  the  desert,  the  soli- 
tude, and  for  forty  days  and  nights  rest,  body, 
mind,  and  soul,  until  real  hunger  takes  possession 
of  you.  Then  come  forth  and  begin  to  absorb 
from  all  the  great  wealth  of  God  that  surrounds 
you. 

There  are  three  chief  sources  of  purest  mind  and 
soul  supply  and  I  wish  briefly  to  consider  each  one 
of  these.  They  are:  1.  Observation.  2.  Read- 
ing. 3.  Intuition. 

This  may  not  be  a  scientific  classification,  but 
it  suffices  for  my  purpose.  I  have  not  put  the  most 
important  first,  but  observation  is  the  one  man 
most  relies  upon. 

1.  Observation  is  God's  method  of  filling  up  the 


ABSORPTION 

inner  supply  of  man's  knowledge  through  the 
senses.  He  sees,  feels,  hears,  smells,  tastes,  and 
through  these  avenues  receives  mental  impressions. 
One  can  observe  the  lower  things  or  the  higher. 
Every  day  as  I  ride  on  the  train  or  street  cars,  I 
observe  men  reading  their  newspapers.  As  a  rule 
I  can  tell  in  a  few  minutes  what  a  man's  mental 
hunger  is  by  watching  him  read.  He  chooses  the 
pink  sheet  and  devours  with  avidity  the  stories  of 
prize  fights.  He  turns  to  the  pages  devoted  to 
courts  and  reads  the  accounts  of  murder  trials  or 
of  scenes  where  lawyers  quarrel  or  jangle  and 
where  witnesses  testify  to  disgusting  and  loath- 
some things.  Another  man  is  interested  in  clean 
athletics  and  reads  with  interest  of  college  foot- 
ball, Marathon  games,  and  the  like.  Still  another 
is  absorbed  in  the  news  of  a  higher  nature,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Hague  Peace  Conference,  the  endeav- 
ors of  statesmen  to  bring  about  a  better  under- 
standing between  the  North  and  the  South,  be- 
tween nations.  In  other  words,  a  man  takes  what 
his  appetite  craves  out  of  the  newspaper.  Just  so 
it  is  with  all  life.  Men  take  whatever  their  appe- 
tites crave.  If  the  appetite  is  false,  unnatural, 
abnormal,  they  take  injurious  food.  Only  when 
the  depraved  appetite  becomes  changed  into  nat- 
ural, normal  hunger,  is  the  right  kind  of  food 
sought  and  found.  Yet  there  is  immeasurably 
more  of  the  pure,  good  food  to  satisfy  the  perfect, 
263 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

normal  hunger,  than  there  is  of  the  carrion  which 
the  vulture  instincts  in  us  crave. 

2.  Reading.     While  I  have  put  this  under  a 
separate  head,  it  really  belongs  under  the  head  of 
observation,  for  the  reading  of  books  is  but  ob- 
servation of  the  observations  of  other  men.     Yet, 
as  I  shall  show  later,  this  is  a  special  field  which 
one  should  endeavor  to  glean  with  care. 

3.  Intuition.     To  the  really  normally  hungry 
soul,  this  is  the  chief,  indeed,  the  only  source  of 
spiritual   food.     It   is   what   Emerson   called   the 
"  Oversoul,"  and  what  Doctor  Buck  meant  when,  in 
speaking  of  Walt  Whitman,  he  said  he  possessed 
the  "  cosmic  conscience."     It  is  receptiveness  to 
universal  truth,   Divine  truth,,  that   truth   which 
knows  no  time,  no  place,  no  boundaries  of  nation- 
ality, no  difference  in  creed,  in  sect,  in  sex,  in  color, 
but  that,  like  the  sun,  shines  alike  upon  all,  whether 
bond  or  free,  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  unlearned, 
black,  white,  brown,  or  red,  savage  or  civilized.     It 
is  the  spirit  that  possessed  —  in  varying  degrees 
—  Gautama./  Buddha,  Confucius,  Mahomet,  Jesus, 
Joan  of  Arc,  Emerson,  Browning,  Whitman,  all 
great  souls  who  have  seen  the  truth  universal  and 
recorded  it  for  the  uplift  and  ennobling  of  man- 
kind. 

May  I  here  suggest  a  few  ideas  as  to  how  you 
should  begin  to  absorb  the  good  things  of  God 
in  order  to  get  the  fullest  benefit  from  them,  and 
264 


ABSORPTION 

then  let  us  go  out  together  and  absorb  some  of 
the  things  that  will  make  one  a  newer,  fuller,  more 
vigorous  and  truly  radiant  being. 

Get  into  the  habit  of  looking  out  of  your  bed- 
room window  at  the  skies  each  night  before  you  re- 
tire to  rest.  Is  it  clear?  Study  that  brilliant 
scheme  of  stars  and  planets.  What  grander  sight 
could  you  ask  for?  Yet  every  common  man  and 
woman  may  see  it  from  the  smallest  attic  or  hall- 
bedroom  window.  Is  the  moon  in  the  heavens  dim- 
ming the  stars  but  flooding  the  earth  with  dream- 
light?  Can  you  see  the  great  wonderful  clouds 
floating  about  in  the  night's  silences  away  up  under 
the  light  of  the  moon  or  against  the  sparkling  of 
the  far  off  stars?  Or  is  the  sky  dark  and  lower- 
ing with  black  clouds  so  that  you  can  see  noth- 
ing as  yet?  What  a  wonderful  thing  that  cloud 
screen  is ;  that  soft,  moist  vapor  piled  in  great  bil- 
lows above  us,  shutting  out  the  heavens  and  their 
wonders  from  our  gaze.  How  dark  it  seems  on  the 
earth  beneath.  How  shut  away  from  the  bright- 
ness and  serenity  of  the  stars.  Yet  we  know  that 
the  clouds  are  but  temporary,  that  they  will  soon 
pass  over,  and  that  we  are  perfectly  safe  nestling 
here  on  the  quiet  bosom  of  mother  earth. 

Look  up  to  the  heavens  every  night  for  some 
intellectual  and  spiritual  food,  just  as  you  go  to 
the  dining-room,  only  more  so.  Form  the  habit! 

Study  the  stars  as  David  did.  They  are  as 
265 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

free  to  you  as  they  were  to  him.  The  poorest  beg- 
gar and  the  most  degraded  sot  have  as  much  claim 
to  the  stars  as  the  king  on  his  throne  or  the  most 
divine  man  that  ever  lived.  What  a  wonderful 
drama  is  being  nightly  played  in  the  skies.  How 
much  more  interesting  and  attractive  to  the  seeing 
and  understanding  eye  than  the  puppet  shows  of 
the  theater,  where  there  is  so  much  of  the  glare, 
the  tinsel,  the  sham,  the  shoddy. 

The  Passion  Play  of  Oberammergau  is  well 
worth  seeing.  To  witness  and  hear  the  dramas  of 
Wagner  is  worth  while,  especially  soul-stirring 
Parsifal,  but  here  in  the  heavens  is  the  great  mys- 
tery of  the  Creator,  watched  over,  guarded,  pro- 
tected by  these  bright  armored  knights, —  the 
stars  and  the  planets,  the  comets,  the  nebulae,  the 
milky  way, —  with  a  vigilance  which  is  as  keen  as 
it  is  eternal. 

A  thoughtful  girl  once  wrote  me  to  the  effect 
that  after  she  first  began  to  realize  the  glories  of 
the  stars,  she  prayed  to  a  different  God  from  the 
God  she  had  always  associated  with  formality, 
churches,  prayer  books,  creeds,  and  the  communion 
service.  She  said,  in  effect,  that  her  prayer  be- 
came less  glib,  less  wordy,  less  ready,  for  the  stars 
inspired  her  with  the  sense  of  majesty  and  awe  of 
the  Great  Creator,  so  that  she  came  before  Him 
with  words  that  meant  more  even  though  they  came 
with  less  smoothness  of  utterance.  Awe  will  take 
266 


ABSORPTION 

the  place  of  smug  self-satisfaction;  the  obeisance 
of  the  soul  to  mere  bending  of  the  knees ;  an  all- 
sweeping  passion  for  uplift  rather  than  vain  repe- 
titiqns  and  selfish  cries  for  more  of  the  baubles 
of  life  to  play  with.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever 
that  Tennyson  had  some  such  thoughts  in  mind 
when  he  wrote  in  Locksley  Hall: 

Many  a  night  from  yonder  ivied  casement,  ere  I  went  to 

rest, 

Did  I  look  on  great  Orion  sloping  slowly  to  the  West. 
Many  a  night  I  saw  the  Pleiads,  rising  through  the  mellow 

shade, 
Glitter  like  a  swarm  of  fireflies  tangled  in  a  silver  braid. 

Longfellow,  too,  has  an  exquisite  poem  on  The 
Light  of  the  Stars: 

The  night  has  come,  but  not  too  soon; 

And  sinking  silently, 
All  silently,  the  little  moon 

Drops  down  behind  the  sky. 

There  is  no  light  in  earth  or  heaven 

But  the  cold  light  of  stars; 
And  the  first  watch  of  night  is  given 

To  the  red  planet  Mars. 

Is  it  the  tender  star  of  love? 

The  star  of  love  and  dreams? 
O  no!  from  that  blue  tent  above, 

A  hero's  armor  gleams. 

And  earnest  thoughts  within  me  rise, 

When  I  behold  afar, 
Suspended  in  the  evening  skies, 

The  shield  of  that  red  star. 

267 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

0  star  of  strength!     I  see  thee  stand 
And  smile  upon  my  brain; 

Thou  beckonest  with  thy  mailed  hand, 
And  I  am  strong  again. 

Within  my  heart  there  is  no  light 
But  the  cold  light  of  stars; 

1  give  the  first  watch  of  the  night 
To  the  red  planet  Mars. 

The  star  of  the  unconquered  will 

He  rises  in  my  heart 
Serene,  and  resolute,  and  still, 

And  calm,  and  self-possessed. 

And  thou,  too,  whosoe'er  thou  art, 

That  readest  this  brief  psalm, 
As  one  by  one  thy  hopes  depart, 

Be  resolute  and  calm. 

O  fear  not  in  a  world  like  this, 

And  thou  shalt  know  ere  long, 
Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is 

To  suffer  and  be  strong. 

So  study  the  stars,  get  from  them  all  you  can. 
Let  their  serenity  sink  into  your  soul,  and  their 
calm  peace  speak  peace  to  your  troubled  and  rest- 
less spirit.  Yield  to  your  imagination  as  to  what- 
ever they  bring  you,  and  be  thankful  for  every 
suggestion  of  largeness,  bigness,  power,  and  love. 

In  his  Saul,  Browning  has  David  tell  how  the 

stars  suggested  to  him  the  life  of  the  people  far 

away,  who  dwelt  far  beyond  the  possibility  of  his 

ever  seeking  them.     How  could  he,  the  poor  and 

268 


ABSORPTION 

humble  shepherd  lad,  ever  hope  to  see  and  know 
these  people  ?  Yet  he  could  picture  them.  So  can 
you.  Let  your  imagination  grow!  Let  it  roam! 
Enjoy  all  it  gives  to  you  of  good  and  inspiration. 
Think  of  the  life  you  might  live  if  you  had  the 
power  some  of  these  people  have,  and  then  seek  to 
live  worthy  of  that  larger  life  even  in  the  restricted 
sphere  in  which  you  are  placed. 

But  there  are  other  things  in  the  heavens,  almost 
as  common  as  the  stars,  that  may  become  a  great 
and  glorious  inspiration  to  you. 

I  once  saw  a  display  of  lightning  that  came  to 
me  as  a  revelation  from  God.  It  was  so  vivid  and 
intense  that  the  friends  who  were  with  me,  old 
Arizona  pioneers  who  had  braved  hundreds  of 
storms,  were  afraid,  and  like  myself  hid  their  faces 
in  their  blankets.  But  by  and  by  the  absurdity  of 
this  act  struck  me ;  —  as  if  we  were  safer  with  our 
heads  covered  than  if  we  were  taking  in  the  sight 
in  all  its  sublimity  and  terrible  splendor.  So  I 
resolutely  cast  my  blanket  aside,  and  although  I 
had  not  yet  gotten  over  the  shaking  of  my  knees, 
I  stepped  to  the  cabin  door  and  enjoyed  the  splen- 
did scene  to  the  full. 

Who  could  hope  to  describe  this  display  so  that 
others  can  see  it,  or  to  be  believed  if  he  even  at- 
tempts to  picture  the  intense  and  vivid  brilliancy 
of  that  evening's  marvelous  fire-works?  For  a 
few  moments  we  were  enveloped  in  a  "  darkness 
269 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

that  could  be  felt,"  and  then,  in  a  moment,  what 
seemed  to  be  hundreds  of  millions  of  darting,  zig- 
zag forks  of  lightning  struck  downwards  through 
the  heavens  in  every  direction.  We  were  encir- 
cled in  these  myriad  flashes  of  vivid  violet  light 
that  almost  blinded  us  with  their  brilliancy.  For 
an  hour  or  more  this  display  continued.  But  it 
was  a  sight  that  I  can  never  forget,  and  it  gave  me 
a  new  insight,  and  new  thoughts  about  the  glory 
of  God. 

I  have  sat  in  the  grass  on  a  summer  night  or 
have  walked  many  a  mile  both  in  the  South  and  in 
the  West  watching  the  scintillating,  yet  soft  and 
delicate,  light  of  the  fireflies  as  they  sparkled  and 
twinkled  at  my  feet  and  in  the  air  all  about  me. 
With  a  sort  of  irregular  yet  rhythmic  movement 
they  opened  and  closed  their  tiny  lanterns,  and 
interested,  fascinated,  and  thrilled  me  by  the  per- 
fection of  their  simple  beauty. 

With  equal  fascination  I  have  watched  the 
phosphorescent  glow  on  the  ocean  beach,  as  the 
great  foam-crested  breakers  curved  over  and 
dashed  shoreward,  gleaming  with  that  peculiarly 
weird  brilliancy,  altogether  different  from  any 
other  light  known  to  man.  It  is  even  more  fasci- 
nating when  seen  in  the  amethystine  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  as  the  steamer  plows  its  way 
through  the  yielding  waters  and  casts  the  gleam- 
270 


ABSORPTION 

ing  and  phosphorescent  spray  from  side  to  side 
in  the  otherwise  dark  and  silent  night. 

Talk  about  the  beauties  of  Nature!  Once  be- 
gin on  such  a  theme  and  there  seems  to  be  no  end. 
A  thousand  and  one  things  crowd  upon  the  mind 
begging,  clamoring  for  utterance  in  this  record, 
but  space  forbids.  Do  not  say  you  cannot  see, 
do  not  say  there  is  nothing  in  your  immediate  sur- 
roundings for  you.  You  cannot  take  a  step  with- 
out glimpsing  beauty  of  some  kind  if  your  eyes  are 
awake  to  observe  and  your  heart  to  absorb.  Only 
this  morning  the  maid  in  "  doing  up  my  room  "  in 
the  city  of  Chicago  pointed  out  the  beauty  of  the 
black  trunks  and  branches  of  the  trees  in  the  ave- 
nue contrasted  against  the  pure  white  of  the  snow 
which  had  just  fallen.  Then  she  remarked  that 
even  the  smoky  buildings  were  changed  into  some- 
thing beautiful  and  harmonious  when  the  snow 
came,  and  she  commented  upon  the  fact  that  she 
found  beauty  here  that  charmed,  thrilled,  and 
stimulated  her  soul,  just  as  much  as  she  did  amid 
the  much-described  and  certainly  more  glowing  and 
picturesque  scenery  of  California. 

Here  is  the  true  spirit!  Do  not  repine  for  the 
things  that  are  away  off  and  that  you  cannot  have. 
Take  from  what  you  can  get,  or  go  resolutely  to 
work  to  get  the  more  desirable  surroundings.  But 
wherever  you  are  absorb  that  which  is  now  and  here 
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LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

presented  to  you,  and  thus  you  will  learn  to  know 
and  appreciate  greater  and  grander  things  when 
opportunity  places  them  before  you. 

2.  Absorption  through  Readmg. 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  because  I  am 
constantly  urging  my  readers  to  rely  upon  their 
own  observations  of  Naiure  that  I  do  not  fully 
appreciate  the  benefit  books  may  be  to  them. 
Books  form  a  large  place  in  my  own  life,  and  I 
would  regret  to  be  separated  from  them.  They 
bring  into  my  life  the  inner  life  of  all  the  ob- 
servers, thinkers,  orators,  seers,  poets,  and 
prophets  of  the  ages,  and  yet  what  are  books  but 
the  records  of  men's  observations  and  their 
thoughts  upon  those  observations?  All  books  are 
not  good.  There  are  books  and  books.  And  just 
as  some  associates  are  injurious,  so  are  many 
books.  Do  not  waste  your  time  on  the  cheap,  the 
trashy,  the  useless,  and  injurious.  Select  only 
those  books  from  which  you  are  sure  you  can  ab- 
sorb those  things  that  will  be  helpful  and  bene- 
ficial. 

Some  people  say  they  read  simply  for  enter- 
tainment. There  are  times  when  it  is  well  to  read 
with  this  object  in  view.  If  one  is  weary  in  mind 
or  body,  the  brain  has  been  overtaxed,  trouble 
distresses  one,  then  it  is  well  to  seek  entertainment. 
For  entertainment  and  the  forgetting  of  one's 
cares,  troubles,  and  weariness  will  mean  rest  and 


ABSORPTION 

recuperation.  It  is  well  to  be  able  to  absorb  such 
from  a  book  that  takes  away  thoughts  from  one's 
self.  But  even  at  such  times,  choose  the  best  books 
from  which  you  may  absorb  those  things  that  will 
enable  you  the  better  to  take  up  the  battle  of  life 
with  renewed  energy  and  courage. 

Do  you  try  to  keep  up  with  all  the  latest  books  ? 
Why?  Do  you  read  simply  to  say  that  you  have 
read,  to  be  able  to  give  expression  to  the  usual 
fashionable  gabble  on  so-called  "  current  litera- 
ture "  ?  It  is  not  the  amount  you  read,  but  the 
amount  of  good,  ennobling,  and  uplifting  influ- 
ences that  you  gain  from  your  reading  that  makes 
reading  worth  while.  No  person  that  lives  can 
read  book  after  book  in  rapid  succession  and  ab- 
sorb therefrom  anything  worth  while.  As  well  sit 
down  and  eat  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
twelve  o'clock  at  night  and  expect  the  body  to  be 
healthful  as  to  read  continually  and  expect  the 
mind  to  be  healthful.  It  is  not  eating  but  assimila- 
tion that  builds  up  the  body.  Just  so,  it  is  not 
reading  but  mental  absorption  that  informs  the 
mind  and  strengthens  the  soul.  One  book  a  year, 
thoroughly  mastered,  out  of  which  you  have  ab- 
sorbed helpful,  stimulating,  invigorating,  health- 
giving,  power-producing  thought  and  action  is 
worth  more  than  a  thousand  books  swallowed 
whole  without  thought  or  digestion. 

Joaquin  Miller  says  that  "  Books  are  for  peo- 
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LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

pie  who  do  not  think."  Very  often  this  is  a  cor- 
rect statement.  While  it  is  a  good  thing  to  de- 
sire the  knowledge  we  can  gain  from  books,  it  be- 
comes an  evil  thing  when  we  gain  all  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  world  around  us  in  this  fashion.  If 
the  only  thoughts  we  have  are  the  thoughts  we  get 
from  books,  books  are  an  injury  instead  of  a  bless- 
ing ;  a  crutch  instead  of  an  invigoration. 

In  his  early  life,  Edwin  Markham,  the  poet,  had 
but  three  books,  the  Bible,  Shakspere,  and  Bun- 
yan.  Yet  from  these  three  books  and  the  con- 
temporaneous study  of  the  mountains,  valleys,  can- 
yons, plains,  orchards,  gardens,  ocean,  sea-beach, 
and  valleys  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  he  ab- 
sorbed thoughts  and  saw  things  that  enabled  him 
to  write  poems  that  have  thrilled  and  benefited  the 
world. 

Sir  John  Lubbock  a  few  years  ago  chose  from 
all  the  millions  of  books  that  have  been  published 
one  hundred  which  he  claims  comprises  all  the  best 
literature  of  all  the  ages,  and  more  recently  still, 
President  Eliot  of  Harvard  compressed  upon  a  five- 
foot  shelf  all  the  books  that  he  deems  necessary  for 
the  really  thoughtful  man  to  possess. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  accept  these  or  any  other 
limitations  as  to  the  books  I  shall  possess  and  read, 
and  yet  I  do  want  to  urge  the  principle  involved 
in  them  upon  my  readers.  Learn  to  do  your  own 
thinking  rather  than  take  your  thoughts  at  sec- 
274 


ABSORPTION 

ond  hand  from  what  some  one  else  has  written. 
At  the  same  time  I  would  urge  upon  you  the  read- 
ing of  the  writings  of  our  great  poets  that  you 
may  absorb  from  them  their  love  of  Nature.  In 
this  way  it  may  be  that  you  will  be  won  to  the  love 
and  appreciation  of  that  which  you  have  never 
before  known  or  enjoyed.  Just  as  the  artist  on 
his  canvas  sets  forth  for  us  a  beautiful  scene  out 
of  the  great  world  that  surrounds  us  and  thus 
focalizes  our  attention  upon  it,  and  teaches  us  to 
see  the  beauty  which  hitherto  we  had  passed  un- 
observed, so  does  the  poet  focalize  our  attention 
upon  that  which  hitherto  we  had  passed  by  and 
neglected. 

Let  us  read,  therefore,  by  all  means,  but  not  as 
an  end  in  itself.  Let  us  read  that  thereby  we  may 
be  stimulated  to  go  out  into  Nature  to  see,  feel,  and 
absorb  for  ourselves.  Many  of  the  books  that  are 
"  worth  while  "  were  written  by  men  and  women 
who  have  been  close  observers  of  Nature. 

It  is  by  observation  that  we  absorb  the  facts 
and  lessons  of  Nature.  Some  of  the  most  help- 
ful and  beautiful  books  have  been  written  as  the 
result  of  the  exercise  of  this  faculty  combined  with 
the  reflection  that  always  comes  to  the  truly 
thoughtful.  The  sciences  are  based  upon  obser- 
vation, and  as  soon  as  one  becomes  interested  in 
any  particular  line  of  study  it  is  amazing  how 
many  fascinating  things  begin  to  crowd  upon  his 
275 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

attention.  The  great  scientist,  Agassiz,  said  that 
he  could  find  enough  to  thoroughly  and  completely 
fill  the  whole  of  a  life  of  eighty  years  in  as  much  as 
he  could  cover  with  his  one  hand.  I  have  spent 
night  after  night  with  astronomers  whose  whole 
vocation  was  to  study  the  heavens  and  learn  the 
wonderful  lessons  revealed  thereby.  One  of  the 
happiest  epochs  of  my  life  was  to  spend  two  months 
in  the  High  Sierras  of  California  with  Joseph  Le 
Conte,  the  great  geologist,  and  his  keen  and  trained 
eyes  revealed  to  me  things  in  Nature  that  I  had 
never  seen  before,  and  life  has  ever  since  been 
richer  and  fuller  because  of  the  experience. 

Darwin  studied  the  facts  of  development  of 
plant  and  animal  life  until  he  wrote  a  book  which 
has  completely  revolutionized  the  thought  of  the 
world.  He  spent  years  in  studying  the  movements 
and  influences  upon  the  ground  of  the  common 
earth-worm  and  showed  us  how  great  a  friend  to 
humanity  is  this  apparently  insignificant  and  use- 
less creature. 

Sir  John  Lubbock,  the  eminent  statesman  and 
philosopher,  busy  with  the  affairs  of  city  and  na- 
tion, spent  years  in  studying  the  actions  and  life 
of  the  tiny  ant  and  has  given  us  most  fascinating 
accounts  of  what  he  saw  with  philosophical  deduc- 
tions therefrom. 

The  Audubons  spent  their  lives  in  studying  the 
animals  and  birds  of  North  America  and  their 
276 


ABSORPTION 

books  have  been  a  source  of  intense  delight  and  in- 
struction to  all  those  that  have  been  privileged  to 
read  them  and  see  their  marvelous  illustrations. 

Michelet,  the  great  French  scholar,  studied  the 
bee  and  then  wrote  a  book  about  this  busy  insect 
that  is  as  fascinating  as  a  romance  and  as  thrill- 
ing and  interesting  as  a  drama. 

John  Ward  Stimson  studied  the  various  forms 
of  snow  crystals,  salts,  of  rock  substances ;  the 
natural  forms  of  leaves,  their  systems  of  veins ;  the 
spines  of  the  various  cactuses ;  the  marking  on 
the  furs  of  animals  and  the  backs  of  reptiles, 
snakes,  lizards,  toads,  etc. ;  indeed,  all  the  multi- 
form shapes,  spirals,  curves,  angles,  lines,  etc., 
of  Nature,  and  wrote  a  book  on  them  entitled  The 
Gate  Beautiful  which  one  great  critic  and  poet 
affirms  is  the  greatest  book,  outside  of  the  Bible  and 
Shakspere,  the  world  has  ever  known.  And  thus 
might  I  go  on  page  after  page,  merely  suggesting 
what  men  with  the  seeing  eye  and  understanding 
heart  have  given  to  the  world  as  the  result  of  their 
observations  of  Nature. 

Who  would  not  observe  in  this  fashion?  Who 
would  not  like  thus  to  fill  up  the  mind  and  the  soul 
with  such  wonderful  facts  and  beautiful  truths  de- 
duced therefrom? 

Henry  D.  Thoreau,  John  Burroughs,  Philip 
Gilbert  Hamerton,  John  Muir,  John  C.  Van  Dyke, 
and  W.  C.  Bartlett  have  studied  Nature  in  the 

877 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

trees,  grasses,  the  birds,  the  animals,  and  the  sun- 
rises and  sunsets  until  they  have  been  able  to  thrill 
the  world  with  the  record  of  those  things  that  they 
have  seen  and  felt. 

Ernest  Thompson  Seton,  W.  J.  Long,  and  C. 
G.  D.  Roberts  have  studied  the  wild  life  of  ani- 
mals until  they  have  written  books  that  have 
charmed  perhaps  millions  of  readers  by  revealing 
to  them  phases  of  animal  life  that  they  had  never 
believed  existed. 

Jack  London  goes  up  into  Alaska  and  with 
trained  eye  observes  the  wild  wastes  of  snow  and 
winter  desolation  and  comes  back  and  writes  books 
that  win  him  fame  and  wealth,  because  of  his  power 
to  see  and  tell  what  his  seeing  makes  him  feel. 

This  world  is  full  of  beauty,  of  knowledge,  of 
joy,  to  the  hungry  mind  and  soul,  and  its  treasures 
are  all  free,  are  all  to  be  had  merely  for  the  ask- 
ing, for  the  seeing,  for  the  reaching  out. 

Nothing  repays  every  effort  more  abundantly 
than  does  Nature.  She  preaches  more  eloquently, 
because  more  simply,  purely,  and  directly  than 
any  divine  that  ever  occupied  pulpit.  She  is  the 
direct  voice  of  God  to  mankind,  ordained  by  the 
Infinite  himself.  Few  men  in  sacerdotal  robes  ever 
come  to  us  with  this  divine  song  upon  their  lips. 
Joaquin  Miller  never  wrote  truer  words  than: 

The  woods  keep  repeating 
Tlie  old  sacred  sermons  whatever  you  ask, 

278 


ABSORPTION 

It  may  be  that  as  you  read  over  what  I  have  said 
of  the  observations  and  achievements  of  the  scien- 
tists and  others  that  you  will  say  that  you  have  no 
such  opportunity  for  wide  observation  as  this.  It 
is  not  necessary  that  you  should  have.  Let  me 
suggest  to  you  how  to  begin  the  development  of 
your  powers  of  observation  in  order  that  you  may 
in  your  way  reap  as  beautiful  a  harvest  as  those 
men  have  in  theirs. 

David  was  only  a  poor  shepherd  boy,  but  while 
out  tending  his  flocks  by  day  and  night  he  learned 
the  wonderful  lessons  that  he  afterwards  incor- 
porated into  the  Psalms.  It  was  his  observations, 
without  scientific  knowledge,  without  observatories, 
without  telescopes,  or  other  scientific  instruments, 
that  gave  him  such  clear  knowledge  of  the  stars 
that  he  was  able  to  sing  those  wonderful  words  that 
have  thrilled  all  mankind  ever  since  they  were  ut- 
tered, "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  firmament  showeth  His  handiwork."  While 
a  shepherd  boy  without  training,  without  educa- 
tion, he  so  observed  the  things  about  him  that 
when,  later  in  life,  the  power  of  expression  came, 
he  was  able  to  sing  messages  that  will  live  so 
long  as  man  lives. 

So,   like   David,   begin   to    study   the    common 

things  about  you.     Observe  the  flowers.     Observe 

their  loveliness.     Study  the  infinite  variety  of  their 

form,  color,  fragrance ;  compare  them  one  with  an- 

279 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

other;  ask  yourself  why  one  appeals  to  you  more 
than  another ;  wherein  the  special  beauty  and  at- 
tractiveness lies  of  one  flower  over  another  for 
you.  No  one  can  study  the  flowers  and  not  real- 
ize that  the  Divine  Creator  loves  beauty,  for  the 
infinitude  of  varieties  that  are  presented,  from  the 
delicate  orchids  and  cactuses  of  the  tropical  for- 
ests and  barren  deserts  down  to  the  plainest  sun- 
flower and  dandelion,  are  all  rich  in  a  beauty  and 
attractiveness  all  their  own. 

Ina  Coolbrith,  the  California  poet,  in  one  of  her 
sweetest  songs,  says : 

I  will  out  in  the  gold  of  the  blossoming  mould 

And  sit  at  the  Master's  feet, 

And  the  love  my  heart  would  speak, 

I  will  fold  in  the  lily's  rim, 

That  the  lips  of  the  blossom  more  pure  and  meet 

May  offer  it  up  to  Him. 

See  what  a  beautiful  conception!  Her  heart 
was  full  of  desire  to  lift  her  prayer  of  thankful- 
ness, praise,  and  supplication  up  to  God,  but  feel- 
ing her  own  inadequacy  and  incompleteness,  and 
realizing  the  perfect  purity  of  the  delicate  lily,  she 
felt  that  she  might  wrap  her  prayer  up  in  the 
rim  of  the  flower  and  thus  make  it  acceptable  to 
the  God  of  purity  and  immaculate  whiteness. 

There  never  was  a  flower  yet  that  was  not  a 
miracle  to  the  observing  eye  and  thinking  mind. 
280 


ABSORPTION 

How  does  it  shape  all  that  beauty?  From  whence 
does  it  gain  those  delicate  tints,  tones,  and  colors? 
From  what  laboratory  does  it  extract  those  ex- 
quisitely delicate  and  delicious  odors? 

Oh,  wake  up  to  the  beauty  of  the  common  grass, 
the  common  flowers,  the  common  trees.  Open  your 
eyes  to  see,  open  your  hearts  to  feel,  cultivate  your 
hunger  for  these  common  things  and  then  absorb 
and  assimilate  them. 

But  the  flowers  and  trees  are  but  merely  a  part 
of  the  great  world  of  Nature  from  which  one  may 
absorb  thing's  beautiful  and  grand. 

People  who  live  by  the  sea  or  by  an  inland  lake 
have  wonderful  opportunities  for  the  observation 
of  grandeur,  sublimity,  and  beauty.  Joaquin  Mil- 
ler once  stood  by  the  seashore  and  wrote  these 
words  of  poetry: 

The  sun  lay  molten  in  the  sea 

Of  sand,  and  all  the  sea  was   rolled 

In  one  broad,  bright  intensity 

Of  gold  and  gold  and  gold  and  gold. 

He  saw  the  gold  of  beauty  which  in  this  ma- 
terialistic age  few  men  deem  of  value.  But  when 
all  the  gold  of  commerce  has  disappeared,  the  gold 
of  beauty  is  a  treasure  stored  up  in  one's  soul  that 
will  accompany  him  through  all  the  ages  of  eter- 
nity. The  one  is  ephemeral  and  useful  only  to  pro- 
vide the  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  we  need  for  the 
£81 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

body,  the  other,  permanent,  enduring,  lasting,  that 
clothes  the  mind  with  brilliant  images  and  the  soul 
with  helpful  and  stimulating  aspirations. 

It  is  one  of  the  mistakes  of  life  to  overlook  the 
apparently  small,  trifling  and  near-by  things,  in 
the  vain  desire  to  see  some  great,  large,  important 
thing.  The  things  about  us  are  the  essential 
things  of  our  life.  Too  often  we  deem  them  un- 
important. We  are  so  accustomed  to  seeing  them 
that  we  pay  no  attention  to  them,  yet  these  things 
were  worth  the  thought  of  the  Almighty  Creator. 
Every  blade  of  grass,  every  leaf  of  every  tree  is 
a  revelation  of  some  thought  of  God,  hence  can 
never  be  beneath  the  notice  of  mankind.  This 
careless  and  unobservant  attitude  of  mind  shows 
our  ignorance  and  our  unwisdom.  God's  mys- 
teries are  before  us  and  we  refuse  to  read  them. 
As  Walt  Whitman  says :  "  Our  streets  are  strewn 
with  leaves  from  the  book  of  God  and  we  see  them 
not."  We  pass  them  by.  Let  us  learn  to  pick  up 
these  divine  mysteries  and  in  their  sweet,  beautiful 
simplicity  read  their  sublime  lessons  to  our  own 
hearts. 

Who  would  think  of  learning  anything  from  the 
mists?  Yet  Joaquin  Miller  once  wrote  these 
words : 

Behold  the  silvered  mists  that  rise 
From  all-night  toiling  in  the  corn, 
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ABSORPTION 

The  mists  have  duties  up  the  skies, 

The  skies  have  duties  with  the  morn; 
While  all  the  world  is  full  of  earnest  care 
To  make  the  fair  world  still  more  wondrous  fair. 

In  one  of  his  poems,  one  of  our  great  poets  tells 
the  story  of  a  number  of  poor  people  who  came  to 
see  their  king  who  was  to  approach  with  his  gayly 
dressed  bands  of  music  and  all  the  pomp  and  cere- 
mony attendant  upon  kingship.  The  story  goes, 
however,  that  the  Captain  of  the  Province  drove 
the  poor  people  away  and  refused  to  allow  them  to 
be  present  when  the  king  passed  through. 

Let  the  poet  now  tell  his  own  story : 

Lo,  then  a  soft-voiced  stranger  said: 

"  Come  ye  with  me  a  little  space. 
I  know  where  torches  gold  and  red 

Gleam  down  a  peaceful,  ample  place; 
Where  song  and  perfume  fill  the  restful  air, 
And  men  speak  scarce  at  all.    The  King  is  there." 

They  passed;  they  sat  a  grass-set  hill  — 

What  king  hath  carpets  like  to  this? 
What  king  hath  music  like  the  thrill 

Of  crickets  'mid  these  silences  — 
These  perfumed  silences,  that  rest  upon 
The  soul  like  sunlight  on  a  hill  at  dawn? 

Behold  what  blessings  in  the  air! 

What  benedictions  in  the  dew! 
These  olives  lift  their  arms  in  prayer; 

They  turn  their  leaves,  God  reads  them  through; 
Yon  lilies  where  the  falling  water  sings 
Are  fairer-robed  than  choristers  of  kings. 

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LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

Lift  now  your  heads!  yon  golden  bars 

That  build  the  porch  of  heaven,  seas 
Of  silver-sailing  golden  stars  — 

Yea,  these  are  yours,  and  all  of  these! 
For  yonder  king  hath  never  yet  been  told 
Of  silver  seas  that  sail  these  ships  of  gold. 

They  turned,  they  raised  their  heads  on  high; 

They  saw,  the  first  time  saw  and  knew, 
The  awful  glories  of  the  sky, 

The  benedictions  of  the  dew; 
And  from  that  day  His  poor  were  richer  far 
Than  all  such  kings  as  keep  where  follies  are. 

Have  you  experienced  these  blessings  in  the  air? 
Have  you  felt  these  benedictions  in  the  dew? 
Have  you  seen  the  exquisite  robes  of  the  lilies? 
Have  you  seen  the  ships  of  gold  sailing  through  the 
silver  seas?  And  the  bars  of  gold  that  build  the 
porch  of  heaven? 

You  have  rushed  to  see  the  pomp  of  kings.  You 
have  rushed  to  see  the  glitter  and  tinsel  of  the  cir- 
cus procession.  You  have  struggled  with  despera- 
tion that  you  and  your  wife  might  mingle  with  the 
gayly  dressed  throng  at  some  fanciful  revel.  Why 
be  so  eager  for  these  vain  shows  and  yet  not  see 
the  true  beauty,  real  gorgeousness,  undying  splen- 
dor of  these  other  outward  manifestations  of  the 
thoughts  of  God? 

Eager  desire  for  the  vain  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  things  reveals  the  abnormal  and  depraved 
appetite  just  the  same  as  the  glutton's  and  drunk- 
284* 


ABSORPTION 

ard's  cravings  do.  The  more  they  are  fed  the 
more  fiercely  their  fires  rage  and  the  less  satisfied 
one  becomes.  It  is  only  real  things  that  will  sat- 
isfy the  hunger  of  the  immortal  soul,  and  then  one 
of  the  remarkable  things  is  how  the  trivial  and 
small  things  will  produce  satisfaction. 

As  George  Macdonald  says  in  his  fascinating 
story,  Sir  Gibbie: 

It  is  wonderful  upon  how  little  those  rare  natures  capable 
of  making  the  most  of  things  will  live  and  thrive.  There  is 
a  great  deal  more  to  be  got  out  of  things  than  is  generally 
got  out  of  them,  whether  the  thing  be  a  chapter  of  the 
Bible  or  a  yellow  turnip,  and  the  marvel  is  that  those  who 
use  the  most  material  should  so  often  be  those  that  show 
the  least  result  in  strength  or  character. 


285 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

RADIANCIES    OF    DEATH 

I/  OR  centuries  the  human  mind  has  been  afraid, 
disturbed,  distressed,  at  the  thought  of  death ;  the 
uncertainty  of  the  beyond ;  "  shall  we  know  each 
other  there?  "  and  the  thousand  and  one  questions 
that  have  arisen  as  to  what  life,  if  any,  there  is 
beyond  the  grave.  Years  ago,  in  my  own  inner- 
ness,  all  sense  of  fear,  of  disturbance,  of  distress  at 
the  thought  of  death  vanished,  never  again  to  ap- 
pear. I  have  no  resentment  at  the  thought  of 
death,  either  for  myself,  or  those  I  love.  I  expect  it 
for  us  all,  and  am  neither  surprised  nor  hurt  when 
it  comes.  There  may  be  the  sense  of  physical  loss, 
but  that  is  all.  There  is  no  sense  of  real  loss  of 
anything  except  the  temporal,  the  physical,  that 
which,  in  the  very  course  of  Nature,  must  pass 
through  the  change  we  call  Death. 

Hence  I  feel  I  have  definite  and  positive  radi- 
ancies upon  this  subject,  which  I  am  assured  will 
bring  comfort  and  peace  to  those  who  can  enter 
into  the  spirit  of  them,  and  accept  the  same  assur- 
ances that  have  come  to  me. 
286 


RADIANCIES     OF     DEATH 

The  first  of  these  that  I  would  radiate  with 
clearness  and  fullness  is  that  man  is  a  spiritual 
being  and  not  physical.  Much  of  the  fear,  dread, 
distress,  pain  of  death  has  come  from  the  mis- 
taken belief  that  man  is  physical.  Death  has  come 
and  robbed  us  of  the  life  of  the  physical.  The  flesh 
has  become  cold,  inanimate,  lifeless,  therefore  dead 
and  lost  to  us.  The  mother  has  grieved  herself 
into  sickness  and  a  ruined  life  because  of  the  death 
of  her  babe.  Husbands  have  wept  long  for  the 
wives  they  thought  they  had  lost.  Sorrow,  grief, 
sadness,  woe  —  these  seem  the  natural  accompani- 
ments of  death.  Our  customs,  our  language,  our 
literature,  our  poetry,  our  art,  are  full  of  the  ex- 
pressions of  this  thought  —  the  trappings  of  woe, 
the  solemn  countenance,  the  hushed  voice,  the  som- 
ber garments,  the  widow's  weeds,  the  black  band 
of  bereavement,  the  hearse,  the  funeral  marches, 
the  watch  of  the  dead,  the  lighted  candles,  the 
solemn  funeral  addresses,  the  tears,  the  grief  that 
will  not  be  comforted,  all  speak  of  the  sadness 
attributed  to  death.  Tennyson's  In  Memoriam, 
Browning's  La  Saziaz,  and  hundreds,  thousands, 
of  lesser  poems  have  been  written  on  the  woe,  the 
grief,  the  cruelty  of  death. 

While  I  long  for  the  physical  presence  of  my 

beloved  ones  as  much  as  do  other  men,  I  would 

radiate  my  belief,  my  restful  assurance,  in  the  love 

that  exists,  persists,  lives,  after  what  we  call  the 

287 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

death  of  the  body,  and  that,  therefore,  to  me,  save 
for  the  loss  of  the  physical  presence,  there  is  ab- 
solutely no  death,  no  need  for  sorrow,  grief,  pain, 
or  woe. 

As  birth  itself  is  a  death  of  the  embryonic  life, 
so  is  death  a  birth  into  the  life  beyond  —  the  life 
of  the  spirit,  the  life,  free,  unhampered,  unhindered 
by  the  flesh.  Browning  expresses  it  perfectly  in 
his  wonderful  Pisgah  Sight,  where  he  stands  and 
looks  "  over  Jordan  "  into  the  Promised  Land : 

Good  to  forgive, 
Best  to  forget; 
Living  we  fret, 
Dying  we  live. 
Fretless  and  free,  soul, 
Clap  thy  pinion, 
Earth  have  dominion, 
Body,  o'er  thee. 

The  Indians'  attitude  towards  death  is  very 
beautiful  to  me.  They  regard  it  as  a  natural 
change ;  a  something  to  be  expected,  to  be  looked 
for,  and  therefore  to  be  met  with  bravery,  courage, 
and  fearlessness.  While  I  know  they  grieve  deeply 
at  unexpected  deaths  by  accidents,  sudden  disease, 
in  war,  etc.,  and  make  a  loud  show  of  their  grief, 
that  is  merely  the  child  part  of  their  nature  assert- 
ing itself.  When  a  man,  a  woman,  has  lived  out 
the  natural  term  of  years  and  he,  she,  feels  death 
approaching,  retirement  is  made  to  some  quiet  and 
solitary  place,  where  Death  is  awaited  with  calm- 
288 


RADIANCIES    OF    DEATH 

ness,  serenity,  and  fearlessness.  This  is  what  I 
would  radiate,  both  for  myself  and  those  whom  I 
love.  I  believe  with  all  my  heart  in  the  great  good- 
ness of  God;  in  the  progressiveness  of  the  human 
soul  towards  the  godhead  possible  for  us. 

I  look  forward  with  confidence  and  eager  antici- 
pation to  the  adventures  new  and  brave  that  are 
to  meet  me  when  I  go  beyond.  I  have  had  a  grand 
and  glorious  time  here.  In  spite  of  hardships, 
sorrows,  griefs,  pains,  sickness,  bereavement,  pov- 
erties, and  the  pains  that  come  from  a  recognition 
of  my  own  mental  and  spiritual  imperfections,  I 
have  had  a  wonderfully  rich,  joyous,  and  blessed 
life.  I  am  thankful  for  it  all.  As  I  look  back 
upon  it  I  regret  only  those  things  wherein  I  have 
brought  pain  and  sorrow  to  others.  As  for  my- 
self, all  the  pains  and  distresses  are  gone  and  for- 
gotten; the  joys  and  delights,  the  pleasures  and 
happinesses,  only,  remain,  and  for  these  I  am 
thankful  beyond  all  power  of  expression. 

Shall  I,  then,  be  afraid  that  the  Supreme  Power 
who  has  so  blessed  me  in  this  life  will  be  unable, 
or  unwilling,  to  equally  bless  me  in  the  one  to  come  ? 
Fearless  and  unafraid  I  await  the  issue,  nay,  with 
glad  confidence  I  will  welcome  it  when  it  comes. 

Hence,  again  to  quote  Browning,  whom  I  love 
and  revere  for  his  great  helpfulness : 

I  would  hate  that  Death  bandaged  my  eyes,  and  forbore, 
And  bade  me  creep  past. 

289 


LIVING     THE     RADIANT     LIFE 

No !  let  me  taste  the  whole  of  it,  fare  like  my  peers 

The  heroes  of  old; 
Bear  the  brunt,  in  a  minute  pay,  glad,  life's  arrears 

Of  pain,  darkness  and  cold. 

I  want  to  meet  death  in  just  that  spirit ;  open- 
eyed,  in  full  possession  of  my  senses,  if  that  be 
possible,  that  I  may  have  full  cognizance  of  the 
experience  as  I  pass  through  it.  But  let  it  come 
as  it  may,  I  want  to  be  ready  to  meet  and  greet 
it. 

In  many  of  his  poems  Walt  Whitman  fully  ex- 
presses my  conceptions,  and  Joaquin  Miller's  many 
sweet  poems  reecho  the  thoughts  that  come  to  me, 
again  and  again,  as  I  contemplate  the  sleep  that 
has  no  earthly  awakening.  Take  his  beautiful 
River  of  Rest: 

A  beautiful  stream  is  the  River  of  Rest; 
The  still,  wide  waters  sweep  clear  and  cold, 

A  tall  mast  crosses  a  star  in  the  west, 
A  white  sail  gleams  in  the  west  world's  gold: 

It  leans  to  the  shore  of  the  River  of  Rest  — 

The  lily-lined  shore  of  the  River  of  Rest. 

The  boatman  rises,  he  reaches  a  hand, 
He  knows  you  well,  he  will  steer  you  true, 

And  far,  so  far,  from  all  ills  upon  land, 
From  hates,  from  fates  that  pursue  and  pursue; 

Far  over  the  lily-lined  River  of  Rest  — 

Dear  mystical,  magical  River  of  Rest. 

A  storied,  sweet  stream  is  this  River  of  Rest; 
The  souls  of  all  time  keep  its  ultimate  shore; 
And  journey  you  east  or  journey  you  west, 

290 


RADIANCIES     OF     DEATH 

Unwilling,  or  willing,  sure-footed  or  sore, 
You  surely  will  come  to  this  River  of  Rest  — 
This  beautiful,  beautiful  River  of  Rest. 

And  elsewhere  he  says: 

I  go,  I  know  not  where,  but  know  I  will  not  die, 
And  know  I  will  be  gainer  going  to  that  somewhere; 

For  in  that  hereafter,  afar  beyond  the  bended  sky, 
Bread  and  butter  will  not  figure  in  the  bill  of  fare, 
Nor  will  the  soul  be  judged  by  what  the  flesh  may  wear. 

Here  is  the  spirit  in  which  he  describes  and  meets 
death : 

Come  forward  here  to  me,  ye  who  have  a  fear  of  death, 
Come  down,  far  down,  even  to  the  dark  waves'  rim, 

And  take  my  hand,  and  feel  my  calm,  low  breath; 
How  peaceful  all !     How  still  and  sweet !    The  sight  is  dim, 
And  dreamy  as  a  distant  sea.    And  melodies  do  swim 
Around  us  here  as  afar-off  vesper's  holy  hymn. 
This  is  death !    With  folded  hands  I  wait  and  welcome  him. 

Thus,  in  very  deed,  and  very  truth,  would  I 
await  and  welcome  him.  And  so  I  would  radiate, 
now  and  ever,  being  sorry  for  my  failings  and  fail- 
ures, but  thankful  beyond  measure  for  any  small 
degree  of  helpfulness,  joy,  happiness,  blessing  I 
may  have  brought  to  others,  and  with  only  one 
great  desire  towards  the  earth  and  its  inhabitants, 
viz.,  to  be  remembered  as  one  who  loved  and  sought 
to  bless  his  fellow  men. 


291 


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